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ž  The way that our film opening followed the convections was very stylised and unique as our credits were running on screen at the same time there was action going on for example the audience will find out what the hit man is up to and who is his next target, at the same time ironically the credits are all there on screen while this is happening, you can see the name of the casts, production companies and let’s not forget the title.

“Lucid” title convections summarised

ž  Well there are many elements that a title sequence employs for example the fonts that are used such as the size and style; this is when the color of the fonts gets involved. If it is a horror movie we expect in most cases a use of bold and red writing with a font that look dripping emphasizing blood. Some fonts could be large, some could be small. In the film lucid our font size was quiet big and at the same time bold and black emphasizing suspense. We didn't want to use bright colors as it will take away the meaning of our thriller movie. However this could be slightly contradicting the movie itself as we expect as the audience a film were a man is covered in blood, the title should be in red and dripping emphasizing the movie “lucid” especially when there are deaths in the movie

For example the text below illustrates writing in red emphasising blood, already without even looking at the title; we can tell that there is going to be deaths in it due to the fact that it is in red writing. The title “killer “seems very deceptive due to the way the font looks and colour employed.

question 1 part 2 comparing the convections of "wild wild west" with "lucid"

Now if we compare the use of convections in the action film "wild wild west" to the action thriller "lucid" we are able to find out that although our film is not as stylised as will smiths film. We can see straight away that the convections of the film opening is generally similar in terms of we both start with the production companies name and we both end off with the tile of the film. During the convections of the film opening while the name of the companies and cast names are making there entrance, both films have action or something going on a the back of all the names and credits at the same time. However there are some differences for example “wild wild west” uses vibrant colours accompanied with stylised editing that captures the audience straight away. While our film “lucid” uses less colours and is not as stylised but traditional instead.

question 1 part 1 in what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products part 1

The term convections are usually a term often used to describe the way something is done within a particular activity. In this case the convections of a film opening will be the use of mise en scene, editing, sound and let’s not isolate the use of camera works. In the beginning of a film we tend to find allot convections for example if we take a look at the film step father. You will notice that at the beginning of the film there is a man dressed very casually emphasising the use of clothes which is a part of mise en scene (the expression used to describe the design aspects of theatre production and film production). The use of props (a knife) played a very key part at the beginning of the movie stepfather as it told us what the film itself is about and what it’s based on already as the audience we already know that there is allot of deaths that are highlighted by the use of that knife therefore foreshadowing the events to come which will be more deaths. 

The way we followed the convections of film openings is by not trying to make the film seem boring towards the viewer hence we used a range of mise en scene such as the use of knives and a mobile as the device. We also used a hybrid of camera shots for example close-ups right at the beginning of the film lucid with the main character standing outside his house looking at a bloody knife which was afflicted on a victim the man just killed, this was a head and shoulder shot and was able to extract the emotions (anger and hatred) from the main character. Therefore hopefully getting the audience excited. The use of sound was very thought throughout the whole film as we did not want to give a soundtrack that sounds scary and too violent. We wanted the sounds to be soft and gentle to the ear of the viewer but at the same time emphasising the thriller itself. Therefore using a piano instrumental was the best solution although I am still not sure if that is aloud as we got the sound from YouTube.

The use of editing also varied as we used a range of match cuts (makes the action appear more seamless time is meant to be continues) to cross cuts (takes us from on scene to another) our main goal was to keep the audience entertained as much as possible and by using a range of these microelements I think as a viewer it worked. The convections of a title sequence is the way the credits, distribution companies, cast names  and many more are structured in  order during the beginning of the film for example if we look at superman returns thriller opening you will see that the name of the production companies and distributing companies is first.

One of the main characters in the movie in red bold bubble writing accompanied with a blue pristine and stylised background

1. Introduction of companies involved (Warner bros and legendary pictures.)

2. Name of the producer “Brian singer”

3. Name of the film (superman returns)

4. Then the casts Brandon routh, James narsiden , Eva Marie and etc

 4. The technical producers such as the music and visual aspect producer followed by a co producer

6. Then the actual movie begins.

However at the same time while all the names of casts and production companies are being listed they are being listed in a more visual and stylized way, hence this is known as stylized editing due to the use of colours and fast paste editing and the fact that all the names are appearing in bold letters accompanied with such a background of outer space.

This was much more for a challenge for us as we focused on the film itself and not the title sequence therefore does undermine the films potential a little bit.

One of the main characters in the movie in red bold bubble writing accompanied with a blue pristine and stylised background of the film opening 

1. Introduction of companies involved (Warner bros and legendary pictures.)

2. Name of the producer “Brian singer”

3. Name of the film (superman returns)

4. Then the casts Brandon routh, James narsiden , Eva Marie and etc

 4. The technical producers such as the music and visual aspect producer followed by a co producer

6. Then the actual movie begins.

However at the same time while all the names of casts and production companies are being listed they are being listed in a more visual and stylized way, hence this is known as stylized editing due to the use of colours and fast paste editing and the fact that all the names are appearing in bold letters accompanied with such a background of outer space.

This was much more for a challenge for us as we focused on the film itself and not the title sequence therefore does undermine the films potential a little bit.

Comments from the crew of 'Lucid'

First day of filming - on set pictures

Above are some on set pictures that we took on our first day of filming before we actually started to shoot. As you can see the first 4 shots are of the interior rooms that we are going to use such as the kitchen, work surfaces and the corridor and also the exterior of the back garden which we are going to film the killing scene in. Taking these pictures helps us to plan out where we are going to place the characters and the props ect. We will be able to dictate where we want to put things by looking at these pictures. We are happy with our chosen set as it has all the things that we wanted to have such as the dining table, work surfaces and then garden area.

Location for filming

Here is a screen shot of the map of where we will be filming for our opening of LUCID. We are filming at Jayne's house as it is accessible for all of the group members to get to and we can use her kitchen for the interior scene and her garden for the exterior ones. She lives at number 2 Ferrestone Road which is in Hornsey, Haringey. As you can see on the map, there is a railway station close by which is called Hornsey station and this is good because then the group can easily travel there. 

The pitch

This is the planing of our opening, is very simple and clear but gives enough information about how the opening will be produce.

LUCID Rough Cut

Above you will see the rough cut of our opening to our film LUCID. Here we have briefly strung the footage together in the correct order  we would like it to flow in. We have not used any effects or titles on it yet which we will add soon. We also need to finish composing our music which we will lay on top of the footage so it will create intrigue and suspense. Currently there is not much suspense built here as this is just the footage following simply and with the music played over this it will build the suspense and make it much more dramatic. So far we believe that our work is panning out well as we have got all the relevant footage we need so we do not need to film anymore because all the footage is fine how it is. When we filmed we spent a lot of time taking many shots so that when we came to editing we had more choice of footage to play with. This was a good thing to do as now we have got great footage with good camera shots and angels that we have been able to use to make this rough cut of our film opening.

Final Project Editing

Today in class we have started the editing of our final project for our opening Lucid. We are using Final Cut Pro to edit our work and we have taken some screen shots of us editing. Our editing is a slow pace as the camera work was handheld so the shots are quite long therefore the editing does not have many cuts in some sequence. The effects that we have added at this point are quite basic such as dissolve in and fade out  because we are trying to focus on creating a good sequence first before adding more effects. We have used cross cutting at the end of the sequence so we can alternate between two scenes of the killing and of the man writing the information down. To establish the location we used various different shots of the front of the house in order to set the scene for the audience.

The screen shots above are the ones that we have taken while we have started editing, in the first screen shot you can see a shot of the location where the story is taking place. This looks like an ordinary house from the outside which may lead the audience to believe that an ordinary person lives there which they will soon be shown that this is not true. The second screen shot is of all the thumbnails of the footage that we have taken, we had a lot of footage to choose from but we have chosen the best ones to use in our editing. The final screen shot featured here is of the main character (Mark) acting, it is important to introduce the main character here in the opening sequence so the audience can get to know the character and know from who's perspective the film will revolve around. Overall we believe that it is very important to take screen shots of our work so we can document what we do incase we need to look back for future reference.

ADDING TITLES

We have know begun to add titles to our film opening while we are editing. We have continued to use Final Cut Pro throughout our whole editing which has been good for our group because we have all learnt about how to use the program. In the first screen shot you can see the title of the film, "LUCID" appear in big clear black font over a white wall. The whiteness here reflects the innocence of the characters however the black font on top also reflects the dark acts the man commits. In the second screen shot we see Mark coming through the font door and we  then see his name appear next to him as he walks through. This is a good timing to put the actors name in as we can see who the actor protrays in this film so we can be clear in our heads about this.
The third screen shot shows the titles that say "An Amber Ryder Production" over the as shot of all the bloody knives layed out across the kitchen counter. It is very important to feature the production company/ producers in the title sequence as these are very important for the making of the film. The whiteness of the font here sits nicely against the blue back ground which makes it stand out clearly.
In the final screen shot we see the killer holding the knife beginning to walk towards the lady to kill her and here the directors name appears on the right hand side. Again we use the white clear font that we have used for all the other titles. The directors name appears here because the most important scene is about to take place and the director is the most important person for the creation of any film.
We have now finished putting on the titles which means that we have finished our editing. The editing was a fun process although it could be quite tedious at times because it takes a lot of effort to make it perfect. Due to the fact that we took numrous amounts of footage whilst filming, this meant that we had lots and lots of footage to play with while editing which gave us a good advantage because we could chose the very best clips that we had so we didnt have to go and film anymore.
Editing was a fun process and with the hard work from some group members we were able to get it done on time.

Opening Plot

The plot of our film "LUCID" is about a killer who has a peculiar way of organising his life, and thus his kills. The title is called LUCID because it is ironic - lucid means when something is clear and easily understandable, but the killer's coding and organisation seems complex and confusing, however for him it makes perfect sense.

The storyline follows the reasons for his madness. Every so often he receives a text with an alphanumeric code, which he then writes down on a sticky note and pastes on his wall. The viewer can see that there are many notes already on his will, crossed out in blood, which leaves the suspicion that he has done this before. To raise this suspicion, there is a line of various "murder tools" that are covered in blood in his kitchen.

The scene opens with the killer outside, covered in blood with a bloody knife in his hand. He seems angry, so the viewer can assume he has just killed someone. He then returns home, and takes off his shirt, putting it in a bin bag that has obviously been placed there in advance. He then moves over to the sink where there are knives soaking in a bowl and drops the bloody knife in. The water turns red as the blood comes off. The killer wipes the blood on his hands off onto a sticky note on the wall in front of him. He leans over the sink, showing he is tired. Suddenly, a loud buzz is heard and he looks around. A phone is vibrating on the table. He goes over and picks it up, looking at the message he just received. He then sits down, and begins to decode the message onto a new sticky note. The message reads "Sarah Williams". He then puts it up on his wall. The scene then jumps to a woman doing her gardening. All of a sudden, the killer appears, and kills her. He returns home, and the scene somewhat repeats itself.

Although it seems long, when condensed, the film time should not be too much. We may cut some things to shorten the scene. We'll have to see when we get to editing.

Filming!

Over the last two days, we've been hard at work with the process of filming our opening for our film, LUCID. To document our experience, we've been taking lots of on set pictures. Overall, I think the one thing was can say was we had the most fun playing with the fake blood!

 

 Location filming in the street, this was very ideal especially for this sort of thriller movie because it tells the audience a story in a way, just by looking at the setting.

Adding the fake blood for our Mise En Scene

to emphasise how crazy and twisted this man really is. also how far he is willing to go just to kill someone

fake blood is very cheap and we were able to collect allot of it from stores.

Our Camera man out in the wild. just testing the camera and the lightning as we are going to be filming the death scene there.

Opening up the bin bag, this is the bag that the murderer is going to hide his bloody clothes in.

 Caught red handed! always great to have fun when in production and work as a team

Improvising a blood-pouch for the stabbing section.

Mark conceals the pouch in his hand. so when the knife is dropped into the sink the pouch is squezzed and fake blood comes out.

Amber is fixing a stool so we can have the proper angle for a certain shot.

Gustavo is trying to avoid getting his shadow in the shot. in the end we got there although this was very difficult.

Trying to get the necessary lighting via reflection.

Overall our last day of filming turned out very well as we had fun doing it which is always an important part that you enjoy what you are doing. We also decide to take lots and lots of footage of various different shots and angles of the same scene so that when we come to the actual editing we have have a lot of footage to play with and to work from. We spent about 5/6 hours filming so it was a long day and we were all tired out afterwards but we are glad that we got everything done. The most fun was to film the stabbing scene, Jayne is a very good actress and she made the stabbing look really realistic. Also Mark was a good actor too as he portrayed the character of a murderer very well. We are sad that filming is over now but we are happy with the footage we have. Today we also recorded foley sounds like phone vibration and the gasps so that we can add them over the footage in the lessons coming up.

sounds that will be used in "LUCID"

 On the 9^th February 2012 group 6(me, amber, Jayne and Gustavo) were supposed to be filming but due to lack of attendance on Monday it had an impact in today’s lesson, in other words we didn’t film. Instead of filming us as a group assorted ourselves to having roles during the planning, so Jayne and amber were in charge of presentation as we decided that we don’t like our previous presentation, so we wanted to do it again, while Gustavo and I (mark) were in charge of sound which we used sound pro editing for. Me and Gustavo came across many sounds that we would like to employ for “LUCID” with the use of sound pro editing , sound pro editing lets you make and edit music, voice and other audio recording. These are the four main types of sounds that we think that are the most important to use as it will have a big affect on the film “LUCID” and the audience they are: Balalaika loop 08 which is a music that creates suspense and builds tension, this would be portrayed in the film when Jayne’s character is about to get killed by the murderer. The ship-creep music will also be vey useful especially when the camera is panning Jayne’s characters house as it has this sort of deceptive and suspicious sounds , this would be used at the beginning of the thriller as the base. This will help capture the audience attention as they will be sucked into the movie as the audience will get emotions from it whether it is melancholy or downtrodden, in fact excited. On sound pro editor we also looked at what is called environmental sounds, now environmental sounds are sounds from the environment such as the sound of the wind from a window view, the environmental sound we chose to use for “LUCID” was an air-conditioned sound to simulate the sounds of the wind when Jayne’s character opens the window to get some fresh air because it is to hot or something. The booming reverse sound was another sound that we wanted to use during the actual stabbing as it has got that “BOOM” noise to emphasise the hatred and the connection between the knife and the human body. Last but not least ship-ambience which I think is ideal for when Jayne’s character is in the garden doing some pottery before she dies as it all builds up to suspense and gets the audience anticipating and excited at the same time.

We are still going to be using Foley sounds as sound pro editor does not have a particular sound that we need for example the sounds of a knife being taken from a cupboard.

To sum up everything, here is a list of sounds and music that “LUCID” will feature:

1.    Balalaika loop 08

2.    Ship-creep

3.    Environmental sound(air conditioner)

4.    Booming reverse

5.    Ship-ambience