Purpose of a film opening

The purpose of a film opening is to give you a gist and idea of what the film is about. In the opening sequence of a film it will have to get the audiences attention so they continue to watch.
In the opening of a film it shows you the characters that will play a part in the film. It will also indicate what genre film it is. Credits will be seen in the opening of the film to introduce you to the people who worked on the film and the film company.

In the opening of the film 'kill bill'  Before you seen any of the film a quote appears on screen ' Revenge is a dish best served cold' This automatically implies the film will be about revenge. You first hear heavy breathing in a panic and then the women is then seen on screen. she is covered in blood and scared. This portrays the film to be an action pact film, it also indicates that this women will play a key role in the rest of the film. The film at the start is in black and white and this means that they are in a different time period. At the end of this scene the credits appear with slow non-diagetic music. Then the next shot we see is of a house in colour and the same women appears and the action film then begins.

Continuity Editing

In preparation for my continuity exercise i made a rough plan of the shots i wanted to get and the angles i would be shooting.

To start filming out my continuity editing sequence i found a spacious area where it would of been suitable to film and where i would of been able to stick to the 180 degree rule. After finding a suitable area i got the digital camera i was going to be using and started setting the camera up on the tripod so make sure the camera was safe and secure to get the best shots.

when ready to film I got my actresses and gave them guidance on what I wanted them to do. The first shot you see if of person A getting ready to enter a room. You see her place her hand on the door handle and push down before it cuts to the next shot. Sticking to the 180 degree rule I then when on the other side of the door to film her opening the door and entering the room. This was an example of match on match action I used in my continuity editing exercise. I also included a shot reverse shot in my exercise to show a conversation between two people. After person A has entered the room you see her stop in shock as she has seen someone she didn't expect to see, it then shows person B's reaction to seeing person A. Dialogue is then used to communicate and have a conversation, this is when shot reverse shot is used, to show tension I zoomed in closer on the character's faces each time to show their facial expressions. In the last shot person A is seen walking away from the conversation.

In this exercise I kept it simple and focused on the shots and sticking to the 180 degree rule. I also become familiar with filming match on match action and shot reverse shot. By using a  digital camera I know have a better understanding of how to use it and how to upload my footage on to the computer so it can be edited and cut. I also learnt a lot about final cut express and how to use it.

Practical exercise - Life on Mars

Practical exercise - Life on Mars

 In this exercise we looked at a clip from 'Life on mars'. Myself and my partner had to recreate this clip so we started by watching the clip a few times and made notes on camera shots ,angels and how long they lasted.

After making notes and watching the clip a few times we started to recreate our own clip. We went outside to film our shots as it gave it a more realistic feel. we made sure our filming area was spacious and suitable. We filmed a variety of shots such as tracking shot, close ups, extreme close ups, high angle shot and we also used a 360 shot.

In order to do this exercise and to film our shots we used a digital video camera with a tape. To help us we used a tripod to make the camera stable and to get the best possible shot. By using the camera and tripod it gave me good practice with working with equipment and become familiar with the apparatus. 

After getting all of the shots we need we learnt how to upload our footage onto the computer. We used final cut express to upload and edit out footage. once all footage was uploaded we started to edit it and cut it so the only footage we have is the suitable footage we need.