Animated Logo Design Research

As we have been given our own production company name we will need to make a logo to show at the beginning of the film, there are many possibilities of different ways of creating a logo, whether we go for a logo that is animated or just a still picture we will have to take different factors into effect such as the fact that we are creating an independant film so it can not look too grand but we still need to keep a level of professionalism within our logo, we are named Scorpio Productions so it will need to be relavent and our ideas are mainly revolving around scorpions, we have created drafts of possible openings and we have confered how we would like to create our logo, we have each created a draft idea for our logo and we will continue to incorporate each idea into our final idea.

Animation is an unfamiliar task to us so i have been researching different ways of animating which would not be to complicated in order to be able to complete our design without difficulty.

I have begun by looking at different ways of creating .GIFs (Graphics Interchange Format) as it looks professional and possible with the technology we have, after searching the internet I found a selection of websites with the same way of creating .GIFs and was recommended the website http://gickr.com/ by a friend who had used it before.

Another way of creating an animation with the technology available would be to use Photoshop in order to create a .GIF, this is not as simple as using the website but I will be able to ask some of my friends who have this program and know how to use it to teach me, it would be good as the final product would be very professional and would probably be better quality than if i were to use gickr.com.
in this program pictures are edited then captured together along a timeline to create an easy and effective way of making your own animation.

Robert Thurgood Phillips

Film Opening Remake: Superbad

To help us in our research before we create our project we are looking at actual film openings created and to understand better how to go about creating our own we have decided to create a remake of an opening scene, this was from the film Superbad.

We decided to choose Superbad because we are debating whether to create a film of the same genre, Superbad's opening was also very straightforward to create which means that we learnt not to overcomplicate our opening later on and also meant we could complete and edit this quick enough to not waste the time we can use for continued research in order to develop after our preliminary.



This is our remake for the film Superbad and I believe that after completing this project we have developed in use of the equipment and for editing ready for our final project, also it has given us an incentive for what genres we would like to do, and although no executive decisions have been made yet I have considered doing comedy and will continue to confer about it with my group.

Jelly Babies Activity

We completed a task in which a storyboard for a Social Realism Film Opening was created using jelly babies as actors, we completed this task in order to portray our knowledge of film openings and the generic conventions used within this genre; we converted this knowledge into our storyboards and also tested our creativity when thinking of a opening with an open narrative in order to not give the entire film away.

When completing the process we learnt the importance of different conventions and how they could be tweaked to suit different genres and needs, we also learnt how to craft a successful storyboard for our final opening sequence, this was a very helpful task for solidifying our past knowledge on the opening sequence in order to apply them well in our coursework, it was also a simple and fun way of working as jelly babies were used.

Difficulties arose when completing the storyboard as we experienced a few disagreements, although they were quickly diminished, with a group of four our creativity was huge and we quickly found an idea which we agreed with for our social realism opening, then using jelly babies to portray it proved a difficulty until we got the hang of our task, making the storyboard look legible when shots were shown with jelly babies needed practise but we overcome this obstacle in the end, apart from that we managed the task well and used our collective intelligence to understand the task.

Our group discussed which genre of film we would be portraying and after contemplating we decided to go for a Social Realism because the conventions used within these genre are helpful due to not having the need for high concept technology and special effects, we also believed that it would be simple to create effectively as a storyboard and would look good, we were discussing whether to do a social realism for our final piece and so decided to experiment with this task.

This task will be extremely helpful when we come to film our piece as it will prepare us for planning and when we create our final storyboard we will use it to it's full potential as we are now aware of how useful they are, it will help us to split up our filming correctly so we encounter few difficulties when filming, it will help us organise and be precise with our filming to get the best possible outcome out of our practical work.

Our storyboard tells a story of a young boy in a social realism who if fed up with his life, the cards he was dealt meant he is now in trouble with the authorities and he is seen to just block out his parents yelling, he then runs into another boy who is seen as a male antagonist within this story, they exchange strong words and the conventions of social realism in the form of modern slang is used, a fight ensues with the protagonist leaving triumphant to support Toderov's theory of equilibrium which is stereotypical amongst many genres of film, although is is really equilibrium, it is not glorified and after the opening his life is shown in more detail, almost like a documentary which is conventional for this genre.

The shots we used we very varied, as it was a storyboard the camera angles were focused upon heavily as this was the general idea, something for us to use as a tool for help when filming in regards to camera angles, scene managament and timings.
the close ups used are to show the emotions of our young male antagonists and protagonists before they fight, this is a conventional thing to do as violence is stereotypical within modern social realism films and this is a typically way of choreographing the event for this genre.

The Difference Between Trailers and Opening Sequences Research

A problem groups in the past for the AS media course have come across is not distinguishing the difference between the trailer to a film and the opening sequence, i have completed some research in order to gain knowledge of the two and to combat this problem.

What is a Title Sequence?

A title sequence is a scene or sequence of scenes, usually shown at the beginning of a film, to show the names 

of the key production and cast members, not to be confused with the credits. These titles are normally super 

imposed over a scene, allowing them and the scene to be viewed easily. These sequences may help to build up 

the story plot or show a crucial moment, building up anticipation and atmosphere, they establish a usually 

independent setting within the film, this is so people can question the film and make there own assumptions as to what the film may entail, they sometimes introduce to types of characters which may be featuring in the film,

to see some examples of title sequences and what they contain please see my other post titled

"Film Openings Research"


What is a Trailer 

A movie trailer is usually composed of a montage of scenes shown throughout a film, which allow the viewer to develop and insight of the storyline and genre. They try to convince the viewer to watch the whole film and therefore to find out what happens as trailers normally end on a ‘cliff-hanger’. Film trailers are usually much shorter than title sequences, so that they can be advertised in-between programs and in cinemas.
They're used to attract audiences to want to see the film, so the most exciting and attractive scenes are shown.

Here are a few examples of film trailers, they were all produced for the same reason, to get people watching these films!

THE HOBBIT (December 2012)


MEN IN BLACK (Summer 2012)


THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (Summer 2012)

Film Openings Research

The openings within films are very important to the audiences in order to:

• Promote the Cast, Crew and Institution.
• explain to the audience the film they are watching, to indicate key pieces of that film such as the setting, the period, the regarding mood and themes of the film and the genre the film is.
• It spurs the audience to enquire about what the film will entail and gives them ideas of the film will include
• it sets up the film and gets the audience relaxed and ready to take in the film. 

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Spiderman 2(2004)

• The Genre shown in this opening is a shown as very sci-fi and the comic book aspect is given thoroughly with the drawn pictures although the genre does not need to be shown as obviously in this opening due to the popularity of Spiderman from past products in media.
• Characters are introduced in this film using pictures or drawings of said characters with the title of the actors' names also in the shot, this gives a certain understanding of story to our audience as the actors and their characters are shown.
• The Narrative for this film is shown in the clip via drawn pictures of an already known narrative, giving nothing away due to the popularity of the Spiderman franchise to begin with, it shows the story so far from the first film so that audiences can reacquaint themselves to the storyline.
• This opening sequence with it's classic score from Danny Elfman causes an exciting atmosphere for the audience and hooks them in for the film, the iconic red colour with the webs brings back certain memories for those who are familiar with Spiderman as a product.
• the themes shown are the typical Spiderman themes, with the mixture of blue and red colours to familiarise the audience with the hero they love, there is an abundance of sci-fi comic book themes throughout this opening and the classic story with a modern twist.
• The Titles within this opening follow the typical code which is predominantly used within film openings, the titles are clear and the importance is reflected on the time given and the order of the titles. 

Forest Gump(1994)

• Forest Gump is a Robert Zemeckis film based on the novel by Winston Groom, it is a romantic comedy based on the life of Forest gump played by Tom Hanks.
• This classic film shows a feather floating through a beautiful setting, this opening does not show the narrative of the film, which may raise questions from the audience as they do not know what the story is about, but this may also suggest that the opening should not give anything away, it shows our main character Forest Gump around two minutes in and the interest in the feather raising audiences opinions and questions about him.
• The Sound used within this clip is a powerful score composed by Alan Silvestri which effects the audiences with it's calm rhythm and relaxing melody, this is used to emotionally hook the audiences and  readies them for the film they are about to watch.
• The Atmosphere given by the music and the visual poetry of the opening as a whole is a calm one, it is a serious and emotional opening with a almost melancholy feel, it releases a beautiful ambience and allows audiences to sink into the film they are about to watch.
• The themes given in this opening are those of modern city life, for when it was written the cars and the lifestyles of the people within the opening are stereotypical to that era, and Forest Gump is seen to be a break in the stereotype, he is an original person and this is a prominent theme in the opening, this is shown through the way he notices the feather where noone else did, he noticed that which others didn't. 
• The Titles within this opening are very clear and simple, with the ordering being very important they stuck to it very well, showing the hierarchy for production of this film well

Superbad (2007)

• Superbad, directed by Greg Mottola is an award winning teen comedy about two high school students and their mission for alcohol and girls. 
• The Narrative is not entirely shown within the opening although we can see it is a comedy and the two main characters are introduced in a very quirky and unusual way, by dancing! 
• it gives a very comedic atmosphere, and with the funky seventies music (Too Hot To Stop - The Bar-Kays) this gives it a rhythm which is very toe-tapping for the audiences and distracts them from their boring routine, this coincides with the comedy dancing that the main characters are paricipating in.
• The themes shown in this opening are very funky dancing which connotes a party or celebration within the film for audiences, they may create different expectations of the film ahead but the opening does not disappoint or give anything away, if i was to create a comedy opening i would include some of these conventions in to make something simple yet very effective. 
• the titles are very effective, they stand out with contrasting colours to the background like the silhouettes of the characters, and they are in the order commonly used within opening sequences. 

Preliminary Task Evaluation

We created our preliminary film to demonstrate continuity so the audience would understand the story, we displayed this through using continuity editing to the best of our ability, we kept the story chronological by incorporating a variety of methods which displayed continuity, for example we used shot reverse shots in dialogue and kept to the 180 degree rule, we also used to cameras at some points as to create match on action shots of characters entering the room, each of these is helpful as it familiarises the audience and echoes reality within our film.

This is an example of match on action, we included this in two scenes of our preliminary film when a character enters a different room, these edited together with no pause in between helped to make our film seem more continuous and realistic. 

This is an example of shot reverse shot in our Preliminary Task which was used in direct speech between to of our characters, it is an example of continuity editing we have used in our task, it helps the audience keep track of speech and the entire story when watching. This is also an example of how we kept to the 180 degree rule the entire film, it is prominent here as we can easily tell the camera stays on one side of the subjects.

I feel our group worked really well together, as two of our group were in the film as actors, we had a chance to work in every aspect of the film and got more time to talk and connect with each other when filming, we also each came up with and improved ideas when planning, with no conflicts of ideas or arguments over the pre-production at all, we each got a chance to edit and film and familiarise themselves with these processes.

If I were to film this task again I would make better use of the tripod instead of filming by hand as much as we did, I would take more time out to find a cast for it and make the cutting flow more continuously so it looks less jumpy and more professionally filmed and edited.

I believe we planned our film well when it came to props and although we didn't use costumes we managed to plan the placement and the time keeping, we could have planned out our casting better and allotted our time towards that more efficiently and next time I will do so.

transitions were used in our preliminary film to show the passage of time and to split different scenes more obviously, these were easily used and we gained an extensive knowledge in the editing of films on the equipment we have. 

Our Preliminary Film