Childrens Film Opening

Our final result...

Live Action Filming - End Of The Week

After this week of filming we have realised that we need to speed up in our work as we still have istop motion to do and a theme tune to make. We started creating our theme tune in Friday's lesson but it still needs improvement. We need to manage the time we have left very well because if we don't then it could end up that our children's film does not get finished or it does not turn out how we first anticipated it to.

From the first week of filming I have realised that our ideas may have been a bit adventurous as it has all got very complicated in the way that there are so many things that need to be done in order to make our film to look like how we expect. The istop motion I feel may be our biggest downfall because we have not yet started this and this takes time in order for it to look affective. As long as we work hard and focus in the remaining lessons we have left we should be successful in creating our opening children's film sequence.

We would have managed our time well but for one shot we did not fast forward the camera right to the end of our footage and ended up filming over some of our work we had not yet uploaded to the computer meaning we had to spend extra time re-filming the footage that we filmed over. We also had trouble with our setting because we had been filming in an empty English room for the past two lessons and on the lesson where we needed to re-film some of our footage the room was locked so this wasted more time. Although, we did split the group up so everybody was doing something productive with their time and putting it towards making our children's film look even better.

Points of Action

Our main points of action that we need to focus on are:

• filming - we need to make sure we have completed all of the filming of our live action, and as we ran into some trouble with our filming when our first shot was accidentally recorded over we need to go back and re film this. This caused a short delay in our filming process so we must make sure that we get back up to date.
• editing - we need to make sure that we have finished all of the editing for the live action filming so that it is done before we start the istop motion.
• istop motion - this section of our sequence is going to take the longest so we need to make sure we keep up to date on making our play dough characters and filming with istop motion.

Childrens Film Opening

Our children’s film will be classified as a pg as the main theme is bullying because all the way through the film Tanisha bullies Katherine for liking to play with play dough and make play dough people and that is something children could pick up on in the film, also it has some discriminatory language in it when Tanisha calls Katherine mean names such as ‘Freak’, which also children could pick up on and use.
There will be slight violence In the film one example of this is in the opening sequence when Tanisha flattens Katherines play dough man with her fist, which is fairly violent and the young children who watch it would be fairly impressionable and could copy the things she doe sin the film. Also there may be some mild languange like ‘crap’ which parents may not want there young children to hear, so if its a pg they can choose whether or not their children can watch it.

By Kiera Roseberry

Analysis of opening sequnce to Monsters Inc

Narrative: From the opening sequence of Monsters Inc we are given clues about the narrative straight away as it shows all the different doors and shows them opening and closing giving the idea that the film may be about going through different doors. Also during the title sequence many of the doors open to reveal monsters and creatures behind them also hinting that this could be what the whole film is based around. As the titles come onto the screen the monsters behind the doors are seen leaving one door and then entering another, and swapping through different doorways linking to the idea later on that all the doors are linked and can be made to come out anywhere. We enter the first scene through one of the doors and are brought into a childs bedroom where a child is being put to sleep which gives us the idea that the film will be to do with children asleep in their beds at night and the idea of monsters behind closed doors.

Characters: We are first introduced to the character of the monster 'Phlegm' as he approaches the boys bed, preparing to scare him as a stereotypical monster would. However, when the child screams this scares Phlegm and caused him to scream too. This is not the reaction we would normally expect from a monster and is challenging the stereotype of the usual terrifying monster character. This gives us clues towards the fact that in the rest of the film the monsters are actually scared of the children. We are also introduced to the monsters behind the simulation of the child's bedroom and it shows how they have created a business from the idea of scaring children.

Genre: This film is a hybrid as it has aspects of a number of different genres. From the title sequence we get the impression that it is horror from the monsters and the creepy feeling of the claws and eyes that are behind the doors. This is also apparent during the soundtrack as the music is interrupted with sharp high pitched screams. Also as Phlegm approaches the child's bed this is also a convention of a horror as his eyes are glowing red in the darkness. However, as he is scared he falls over and knocks into lots of objects around the room giving the sequence a comical edge. All of the doors at the beginning give the sense of an adventure as they all lead somewhere and the monsters can enter through certain doors and exit through different ones.

Toy Story Opening Sequence (Analysis).

Narrative: The narrative conforms to a typical children's film as the music is very upbeat and the story line follows the five stages of the narrative structure to a children's film. Although you do not get told this in the opening sequence, you can assume. You can assume this by the fact Woody is Adam's favourite toy. In the opening sequence Woody has almost all of the screen time, with Adam; this shows that Woody is Adam's favourite toy. Although when it is time for presents and his party Woody is immediately chucked down on the bed without any thought. This suggests that Woody may be put out of the picture as he may get a better present (which then turns out to be Buzz). It also conforms to the way that children's films have morals. The moral to Toy Story is to keep trying and not give up. This is shown by Woody not giving up on trying to save Buzz, even though they were not best of friends.

The genre of Toy Story is adevnture but also family in a way, making the genre a hybrid. Woody and Buzz go on an adventure of trying to get back home. It can also fit in the genre of family because although the toys aren't family they act like they are. They all look out for eachother and care for one another. When they think that Woody is trying to kill Buzz they do not approve of this and do not accept him back until they realise what he is actually trying to do. This all gives a family feel to the toys. They live together too, just like a family would.

The characters in Toy Story conform to how they would in any other conventional children's film. There is a main character which is Woody and a 'baddy' which is the evil boy who lives next door and likes to demolish toys. From the opening sequence you can clearly see that Woody is going to be the main character in the film because he has almost all of the screen time and he gets the first line from the toys, this may show that he is in control of the group/ the leader. There are normally two characters in a typical children's film that clash and contrast with eachother. Toy Story conforms to this by having the characters Buzz and Woody clashing with eachother because Woody is no longer the favourite and Buzz can do more things; for example, he thinks he can fly.

Toy Story also conforms to a typical children's film in the way that the atmosphere is consistantly happy until the climax where something goes wrong. In Toy Story Buzz and Woody get left miles away from home and have to try and make it back, it also looks like Buzz isn't going to make it home when he wants to give up. The music in the opening is very cheerful which is also conforming to a usual children's film. The lyrics also suggest what the film is going to be about "you've got a friend in me" it plays these words when Adam had Woody in his hands. When Woody is chucked on the bed the music then stops, this also suggests that perhaps their friendship won't last that long as he is going to open new toys.The ending of the film is stereotypically happy and the problem of Woody and Buzz is resolved and all the toys are friends again.

Practice Storyboarding

We watched the opening sequence for 'Back to the future' and created a storyboard for the first two shots. This gave us practice story boarding and also helped because the first shot is a very long duration track shot. It helped us work out the information that we needed to include under each frame to make a successful storyboard.

Production Meeting 2/12/09

Our idea's for the micro elements for our film:

- mise - en - scene
We are going to use two actors from our group to feature in our film and to show their characters we shall use props such as large glasses for our nerdier character and the costume will be based around this idea. They will be dressed in a shirt and trousers and the bully in our scene will be dressed in casual clothes so that they look like normal children. Another main prop in our scene will be the playdoh, as the girl creates her playdoh characters, and when we create the animated sections, this will be the main feature.

When thinking about settings we decided to set our opening sequence in a playground, and thought that the Long Road quad would be perfect for this. This will be using natural lighting, and we have planned to film when it is cloudy to create lower key lighting, giving it a darker atmosphere to reflect the feelings of the characters. As for the colours that we will use throughout the scene we have decided on the colour blue to reflect the feelings of the bullied girl as she is feeling down. The bully will be dressed in red to show she is threatening and to give a sense of fear.

- camerawork
Most of our sequence will be animated so will be made using istop motion, but for our live action sequences the camerawork will be static, using a tripod as the characters will stay in the same place for most of the scene and we want the focus to be on the smaller details, such as the play doh characters. To emphasize this we will use lots of close ups. Low angle shots will be used on the bully to make her seem more threatening and intimidating.

-Editing

Production meeting - 1/12/09

Genre
Our genre is animation. We came up with this to be our genre because we got inspiration from 'morph'. This is a childrens animated programme, created out of playdoh. As well as being animated genre it is also adventure. From discussing with the group about what our ideas are going to be for the whole film, not just the opening sequence we decided that the playdoh character that is going to be created will go on an adventure and defeat bullying. The fact that we have real life people and animated (playdoh people), we thought that this would be a good contrast making it effective.

Narrative
Our narrative is based on the idea of a intelligent character who is bullied at school for being this way is a big fan of creating playdoh figures. The reasoning behind this is that this is how he deals with the stress of being bullied at school. He creates a specific playdoh man called 'Timmy' which gets destroyed in the opening sequence by the bully stamping their fist on it. Although this happens Timmy then comes back to life and goes on a journey to defeat bullying for good.

Character
First character:
Name: Catherine
Backgroud information: Catherine is going to play an intelligent school girl who is bullied for being intelligent. She dresses in a stereotypical way of being intelligent, for example, collar out, bulky glasses. She plays with playdoh to try and deal with the stress of being bullied, one of her creations is then the focus of the whole film.

When researching we looked on the Google search engine for stereotypically intelligent children. We thought that the picture to the left was the one that fitted best the mise-en-scene that we're looking for. Although we are going to have our character wearing a polo top with their collar obviously out.

Second character:
Name: Tanisha
Background information: Tanisha is going to play to 'bully' of the film. She also conforms to the stereotypes of a bully in the way her attitude comes across. She is not going to have any consideration for anyone but herself. She finds it funny that Catherine is in intelligent and because she does not understand why she dresses like she does she bullies her for this.
The picture of Vicky Pollard to the left inspired us on how to make Tanisha act. The way that Vicky Pollard has a very 'I don't care' attitude, we thought that this would be perfect. Although their attitude would be much more dumbed down as they are a child.

As well as Vicky Pollard being our inspiration. Catherine Tate in her character of Lauren with the famous catchphrase 'Am i Bovverd" emphasizes the insecurity of the characters. We want this aspect of her character to show in Tanisa. Tanisha bullies other people because she is not confident within herself.

Thought Shower

Inspirations/ideas
dinosaurs/mini dragons? animated characters.
morph - play dough men - using istop motion.

Playdough turns into man, and other characters, creates opening credits. Zooms in and out to show the child playing with playdough then zooms back to credits.
Makes a playdough man an then girl (bully) comes along and squisheshim -> goes to titles. After title, little squished ball (from what the bully did to the playdough) turn back into a man, winks at the screen.

End of opening sequence.

MOOD BOARD



Our mood board shows our primary ideas for our children's film. The pictures gave us inspiration towards our final ideas.

U and PG certificate guidelines

U Universal – Suitable for all. It is impossible to predict what might upset any particular child. But a ‘U’ film should be suitable for audiences aged four

years and over. ‘U’ films should be set within a positive moral

framework and should offer reassuring counterbalances to any violence, threat or horror. If a work is particularly suitable for a pre-school child to view alone, this will be indicated in

the Consumer Advice.

Discrimination No discriminatory language or behaviour unless clearly disapproved of.

Drugs No references to illegal drugs or drug misuse unless they are infrequent and innocuous, or there is a clear educational purpose or anti-drug message suitable for young children.

Horror Scary sequences should be mild, brief and unlikely to cause undue anxiety to young children. The outcome should be reassuring.

Imitable behaviour No potentially dangerous behaviour which young children are likely to copy. No emphasis on realistic or easily accessible weapons.

Language Infrequent use only of very mild bad language.

Nudity Occasional natural nudity, with no sexual context.

Sex Mild sexual behaviour (for example, kissing) and references only (for example, to ‘making love’).

Theme While problematic themes may be present, their treatment must be sensitive and appropriate for young children.

Violence Mild violence only. Occasional mild threat or menace only.

PG Parental Guidance – General viewing, but some scenes may be unsuitable

for young children Unaccompanied children of any age may watch. A ‘PG’ film should not disturb a child aged around eight or older. However, parents are advised to consider whether the content may upset younger or more sensitive children.

Discrimination Discriminatory language or behaviour is unlikely to be acceptable unless clearly disapproved of or in an educational or historical context. Discrimination by a character with which children can readily identify is unlikely to be acceptable.

Drugs References to illegal drugs or drug misuse must be

innocuous or carry a suitable anti-drug message.

Horror Frightening sequences should not be prolonged or intense. Fantasy settings may be a mitigating factor.

Imitable behaviour No detail of potentially dangerous behaviour which young children are likely to copy. No glamorisation of realistic or easily accessible weapons.

Language Mild bad language only.

Nudity Natural nudity, with no sexual context.

Sex Sexual activity may be implied, but should be discreet and infrequent. Mild sex references and innuendo only.

Theme Where more serious issues are featured (for example, domestic violence) nothing in their treatment should condone unacceptable behaviour.

Violence Moderate violence, without detail, may be allowed, if justified by its context (for example, history, comedy or fantasy).

Inspirations

We looked at morph and came up with the idea of using play dough and istop motion. We then decided that we could use the

play dough idea for the opening credits.

Cont. Of Conventions
Narrative by Kiera Roseberry

The opening sequence starts as an elf film that comes across as really happy and a stereotypical children's film that then cuts and goes really dark and into the main opening which, introduces the characters, which is the three Baudelaire children, Claus, Violet and Sunny, who each had a unique quality, Sunny bit things with her strong teeth. Sunny was really intelligent and likes to read books, and Violet is the 14 year old inventor and she tests out all of her inventions on him. You then find out they are orphans which suggests that they will have to overcome a problem in the film, probably using there unique 'quality's'. Also in the burnt down house they find interesting objects which will probably be a main part of the story line leading to the audience assuming they will find out the family secrets and mysterys.

Themes - Francesca Hazel
- family (losing family)
- secrets and mysteries (finding mysterious objects, leads us to think we are going to find out the secrets behind them later on in the film)
- overcoming problems/tragedies

Conventions of children's opening sequences

Analysis of opening sequence of Unfortunate Events

Character- Georgia Phillips
The characters do not conform to the characters that would normally be seen in a children's film as the children do not talk in the introduction (making them seem unusual). The first shot we see of the children we only see their back, this adds to the mysterious atmosphere of the film as a whole. They are all dressed in old clothes, this suggests that they film itself is not set in the modern era as all of the mise-en-scene is not modern at all so it is not just how the children dress.

The children are portrayed as being clever and intelligent. Clouse is associated with reading lots of books and remembering what they are about. Violet is associated with being the inventor of the family and the baby is seen playing scrabble. The fact that they are clever may determine how they solve a problem. This is likely to save them in the end if the film follows this convention of a children's film as there normally is a problem that characters have to overcome.

The family are wealthy people as we see when the house has burnt down that it was infact a mansion. The family also seems very close as Violet tests her inventions out on her younger brother.

genre- Hollie upton
HYBRID

adventure-

Conventions of a children's film

Conventions of a children's film

• Narrative - the narrative is quite simple
  - Usually a happy ending
  - There is usually a moral to the story and a lesson to be learned
  - There is a usually a problem that the characters need to overcome
• Genre
  -Action
  - Romance
  - Adventure
  - Musical
  - Fantasy
  (Most are usually a hybrid of a mixture of genres)

• Characters
  - Main character is generally a child - vulnerable
  

Evaluation of Preliminary Task

Georgia Phillips

During the preliminary task we encountered a few problems along the way.

We chose our action to be shot in the C block toilets, but realised once we had got most of our footage that we were unable to do a long shot because the toilet space was too small. Although we thought this was an issue we then realised that our establishing shot was also a long shot too so this was not an issue after all.

During editing we found out that we were not allowed to have explicit swearing in our piece. Because we did have a lot of swearing we had to think of a way to get round it without having to re-film. We decided to try and 'bleep' it out by lowering the volume at certain points. We found this quite difficult as a group because we were not used to the software but when we eventually worked it out it looked effective and flowed with the piece.

From doing the preliminary task I learnt how to use the software and I am now much more confident. I also learnt how to change the films into a QucikTime so we are able to upload the footage onto our blogs. During this process I also learnt how to use the blog and update it regularly. I learnt that editing plays a massive part in making the film flow, if we did not edit properly then the task would not have been continuous therefore it would not have worked.

In conclusion, I think we as a group worked well together and covered everything we needed to cover in order to pass the preliminary task. Doing the task has given me a taste for what's to come and I am looking forward to creating the opening sequence to a children's film.

Francesca Hazel

Overall our sequence for the preliminary task worked quite well although we did encounter some problems when filming and editing afterwards. We had to incorporate a conversation into the sequence so we chose to use two girls having an argument and decided to use the girls bathroom as our setting as it is a typical place for events like this to occur. When filming we found it hard to get all the shots we needed as there was limited space in the small bathroom, however we overcame this by using the corridor outside to shoot our long shot.

The filming went well as we re shot some of the shots again if were weren't 100% happy with them, giving us the chance to choose the best afterwards and i think the shots we used worked well, especially the over the shoulder shots during the argument and when Hollie slapped Georgia. At times it was hard to keep the camera steady when filming shots that we couldn't use the tripod for but this didn't affect the shot too much.

When we came to editing our shots and creating the sequence it was hard to place the shots together and edit the duration so that the conversation flowed. It sounded unnatural as they had been shot seperately so it took lots of cutting down the shots and lining them up until we could make the conversation flow naturally. The continuity shot was similar as it had to be cut at a precise point to make it flow from the shot before, but we managed to fix this. Another problem we encountered was the speech in our sequence as we had to remove the swear words. It took a while to get used to the software used to edit sound, but in the end we managed to dip the sound level so that the swear words were inaudible.

I think our group worked well together as everyone had there own ideas and when we put them all together and incorparated them into our sequence we were happy with the result. The preliminary task helped us all the get more experience with the software and i now feel more confident using it.

Kiera Roseberry


During our preliminary task we had a few problems but overall the project went well and our sequence came out well. The main problem we had was during filming, we had to encorperate many different shot types, which included a long shot. As we chose to film our girl fight sequence in the girls toilets we realised that shooting a long shot was going to be difficult as the toilets are only small, we resolved this by using the establishing shot in the corridoor as our long shot too.

Another problem we had was continuity, we had a few issues when hollie was coming through the door and we had one shot one side of the door and one on the other side, but we resolved this in editing, and also when Hollie slaps Georgia it ws hard to get the over the shoulder shot of georgia being slapped and the shot before of the front of Hollie about to slap her.

After filming we uploaded our sequence and started editing, one of the problems we faced was cutting down each part and then sitll keeping it in sync. Another problem with editing was cutting out the couple of swearwords in the fight scene, this was hard to do as we only wanted to mute on word and no the whole sentance other wise it wouldnt make sense, we couldnt do this at first but then we zoomed into the part we were muting so that we could make a more accurate change to it.

I think during this task we worked very well as a group and we all learned new things about filming and the camera equipment and we also gained further knowledge of how to use the macs and how to edit our sequences which will help us when we do our other sequences in the future.

Welcome

Our group consists of Kiera Roseberry, Fran Hazel, Georgia Phillips and Hollie Upton. We had to create a short sequence for our preliminary task this involved taking a variety of shots such as:
-a long shot
-close up
-continuity shot
-establishing shot
-reaction shot
-shot reverse shot
and we had to make sure we kept to the 180 degree rule.

After completing our preliminary task we are still unsure of what idea we are going to go through with when creating our final children's film opening. Our next task is to research children's films and get a clear idea of how our opening is going to look like and be based about.