Music

Other than narrations, we also intended on using music in the background as well. Since we decided not to use the Nicki Minaj song anymore as it was too repetitive and boring, we decided to look for other music.

We looked on a site called ‘Free Sounds’ and found some good music that we could use. It only lasted 14 seconds which meant we had to keep copying and pasting the same footage, however the transition between each new clip flowed smoothly.

This is the link to the site

https://www.freesound.org

Sophie

Group Update

During the editing process of the footage our group had been shooting for a month ago, we weren’t too impressed with the outcome of it and saw that there were a variety of problems within the actual acting and storyboard plan as well as the editing in general.

What went wrong:

Camerawork

• Although we did have a storyboard plan with us, it wasn’t as clear as it should of been. For example, each drawing represented around 10 seconds of the 2 minute film opening which could most probably contain lots more of camera shots and movement within that time frame. This meant that when it came to actually filming, we were unsure of what camera shots to do as the storyboard was not detailed enough.
• We used some camera shots however we didn’t think about the effect of each one being used in the scene and instead just did it for the sake of having a variety of camera shots.

To improve

• We should make the storyboard more clear and detailed. For example, we should try and aim for around 60-100 different shots rather than one page filled with around 8 shots altogether for the whole 2 minute film opening.
• We need to think more deeply about the effect/purpose of each camera shot being used so that it is easier for us to evaluate as well as making it easy for the audience to realise the atmosphere of the film.

Sound

• We didn’t incorporate a lot of diegetic sound during the beginning of the 2 minute film opening as we had initially planned to use music throughout those scenes.
• During the second part of the scene, which represents another day, we used the diegetic sound of a group of friends speaking so that the audience are familiar with other characters in the film who are possibly going to be shown later on in the film outside of the first 2 minutes.

To improve

• We should perhaps think of a different song to use or perhaps opt for just diegetic sound in the first 2 minutes in order to allow the audience to connect more with the characters and understand their status

Mise-en-scene

• Mise-en-scene was not too bad in our film as we only need a couple of props such as fake blood and a knife and obviously the casual clothes worn by the two actors in the film.

Editing

• The first part of the 2 minute film opening was recorded portrait rather than landscape which meant that there was an obvious difference between the portrait filming and the actual landscape filming. For example, the portrait version has a lots of black screen around it whereas the landscape version feels up the whole screen.
• We recorded with our phones which, we all knew anyway, was not going to be the best quality however we thought it would pass as a rough cut. This turned out to be a huge fail as we were recording with our phones which meant that most of the footage is almost pitch black as we struggled to create lighting.
• We incorporated too many shots of the dead body at the start which took away the suspicion as it started to become tedious and uninteresting.
• The music edited in the film opening turned out to be very repetitive and tedious also and did not help to create an atmosphere in the end.
• The transitions between different shots looked very unnatural and did not really flow.

To improve

• We need to make sure that the cameras are always the right way round and always recorded landscape so that it fills up the entire screen and makes the editing process much more easier.
• We will use proper DSLR cameras which will make the footage look more clear as well as enabling us to explore with its other features such as adjusting it for night time/low light settings.
• We need to consider using less shots of the dead body.
• The music does not have to be incorporated into the scene. We could perhaps look into narrations where people speak during the 2 minute film opening.
• We need to experiment more with transitions in order to make the film flow more

Filming by Sophie, Niyi and Amber

Our story board so far showing camera work, ideas, mise-en scene and music

establishing shot:  black screen fading into the dead body.

we have gone with using the niki minaj remix which Sophie had received permission for.

music will start and build up slowly loader…

1.  we will see a dead person on the floor he will be dressed in gangster clothing and lighting will still be flashing on him like no one has noticed. this will be played by Declan who we hired as an actor. he will have blood and bruises over him which will be done by Amber and it will be set on a kitchen floor where knives are most easiest to supply. the body will be seen in a long shot birds eye view angle so we can see the body and the outskirts of the kitchen
2. the next shot will be an extreme close up of Niyi’s head which reveals his shocked face and shows his innocence through his eyes we get a small glimpse of a diamond earring on one of his ears as well.

music will become faster with more tension

1. a close up is followed of the knife with the blood on and will then quickly transition into the murderers eyes which will be lurking in the shadows these will alternate a couple of times to emphasis that niyi was innocent the lights will be shining on it to emphasis the object.

music will then stop to allow scream to take place

1. when the party people later hear a scream coming from the kitchen from one of the party girls who has walked in on the body, they all enter unaware until we see their hatred for niyi and their shocked faces. this is shown in a mid shot with five-7 people in it. they will be dressed in party clothes and holding drinks

music will strat again slowly

1. we then realise that someone has called the police and so niyi runs out the back door with a group of his friends from the party as they chase after him. this will be a long shot to show the setting and surroundings of the back door and where it leads out to , a street or a garden.

long and slow notes in the music will be exaggerated here

1. we then go back to the dead body to see how bad he looks and we get an extreme close up of Declan’s eyes still open with a tear rolling down his cheek.

music will then carry on as normal

1.  we next have two ideas here one is a screen saying the next day which will then fade into the next shot or one not having one and making the next half of the clip all in the same day. we will try both to see which is better
2. this long shot will show niyi running across the road and through an alley to meet his friends as he hears the police sirens and think they are trying to find him and we hear the atmospheric music of sirens which will be pre recorded and used a non-diegetic sound. as he meets his friends and they all start to run down the alley there will be five split screens to allow us to see the ethnicity and gender of his friends. by niyi and his friends all being black and boys it will help show the negative generic stereotype of crime. they will all be dressed in the same clothes from the party which is why I think it is better to not have the black screen saying 2 days later
3. we then get a birds eye view and crane angle of niyi and his friends running all the way down the alley. the lighting will be minimal but street lights will flood the alley

music will become very quite and long notes exaggerated to allow the viewer to hear the sirens

1. a paper then blows into a puddle upside down to allow the viewers to read a headline and to see Niyi’s face on the front of it with Declan. the head line will be an article about niyi killing Declan at the party. a street light will shining on the article and the picture of Niyi’s face

music then slows down a lot

1. we then go back to niyi running out of the alley and hiding under a bush as he can see the police running down a road to try and find him. the lighting is still minimal but the police jackets are lit from the street lights and oncoming traffic.
2. a close up is then made of the police mans foot running across the bottom of the bush in the street.
3. are final shot is niyi coming out from under the bush and a zoom out of him under a street light frozen looking into the camera at an eye line angle

music will stop and exaggerate the long notes again

By Phoebe M

Screenshot of the email sent to the producer of one of our song choices

We found a good song by Nicki Minaj however we wanted to use the instrumental for this and the instrumental video we found from youtube was re-produced by someone else, which made it easier for me to contact the person. I emailed them asking for their permission to use the music they produced in our film opening and they got back to me saying that I could use it along with their song attached.

By Sophie C

Further research into the music we will be using

A song in particular that we liked was the instrumental to the song ‘Chiraq’ by Nicki Minaj.

I like this song in particular because:

• The instrumental will fit our film opening much better as if there was singing/rapping in it as well then this will take away the audience’s focus on the main character running away.
• The beat of the music has a lot of relevance/similarities to the beating of the heart as it is quite upbeat and this can help create our desired tense atmosphere.
• There are some parts of the music which are different to the rest such as 1:56 and this opens opportunities for us to explore different editing techniques so that it suits the change of music.
• The overall sound of the instrumental helps to represent the character as a ‘thug’ therefore making him look like the criminal who killed the man. (Although he is innocent)

Problems and solutions

The problem, however, with using this instrumental to the original song by Nicki Minaj is that we will have to get permission to use their music seeing as we have not produced it ourselves and it would be considered as copyright’. Since the song was re-produced by someone on ‘Soundcloud’, I thought our group may have a closer chance of being able to get permission to the music. I signed up for an account and emailed the producer of the instrumental to see if we could have permission to use their music in our film opening. We have also considered the idea of discussing with the music department if they would be willing to reproduce the first two minutes of the instrumental to the song so that we could record it and use it in our film opening. The problem with this, however, is whether they would agree to do it and how if they will be able to learn it and do it before December 15th. (Deadline day for our film opening)

Other possibilities/choices

I have also considered other possibilities of music to use in our film opening if the Nicki Minaj instrumental will cause a lot of problems for us. On youtube, there is an account where they produce their own music for movies and allow you to use their music if you ask for their permission and credit them.

Here is an example of some people asking to use their music

Some examples of their music that could fit into our film opening:

Although this song is completely different to the song above, I like it because it is quite dramatic and tense and the ending of it will suit the film opening perfectly. This is because when the wrongly accused victim looks up to see who was actually arrested, he can look shocked and the music in the background will quieten which will pull more focus towards his facial expression.

This song also fits the ending of the film opening, as mentioned earlier.

By Sophie C

Atmospheric Music for our coursework

By Phoebe.M

Phoebe Maloney's "A"level Media Blog

Ideally when adding music to our film opening we would like it to be instrumental and not upbeat. We also have found a music beat that would be great to add as it includes heartbeats that could be added to emphasis the emotions at the beginning when the person is dead, this also juxtaposes the dead person.

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Examples of a previous As film opening

Since our group have decided upon the genre we will be basing our film on as well as the actual storyline, we decided to look at some examples of previous As film openings that have relevance to what we are planning to do.

Here are a few that I like:

What I like about this film opening:

The mise-en-scène I like how it is easy to make a contrast between the two people through the use of costumes and props. For example, the first guy shown in the film opening is seen wearing smart clothes such as a blazer along with a suitcase in his right hand. The second guy also known a stye antagonist, however, can be seen dressed more trampy wearing all black (could symbolise death) with his hood up. This helps the audience to establish who the bad person or ‘villain’ will be in the whole film. Body posture and voice/tone also has been used effectively in the film opening in order to intrigue the audience. For example, towards the end of the short opening, the smartly dressed guy finally stops running and he stops and kneels down gasping for breath to make it look like he has actually been running for a long time thus adding to the realism of the film/chase. I also like how we do not see any close ups at all of the two men’s faces and this could add to the suspense atmosphere created, where we wanted to see if the man would catch the man who killed his wife, as the audience want to see who they are.

Music/Sound In the film opening, they use a range of non diegetic and diegetic sounds in order to add to the suspense atmosphere. For example, at the beginning, when the man has just witnessed his wife being murdered in the block of flats, we hear the sound of screaming which makes the scene look more realistic otherwise we would not know why the man looks up deciding to run. Music has been incorporated into the opening and has been played all throughout. It is fairly quiet at the beginning and then as the man witnesses his wife being murdered, the pitch of the music begins to change to a much more deeper tone at a higher volume which signifies a change in mood/atmosphere.

Titles/Transitions I also like the use of titles and transitions in this film opening. For example at the beginning, titles are used in order to inform the audience of who produced the movie as well as who the actors and directors are etc. The choice of colour was also good as we could read it clearly without it blending in with the actual filming

Camera Shots A variety of camera shots/angles/movements were used in the film opening such as the establishing shot being a long shot to show the setting of the scene. A high angle long shot has also being incorporated where it looks like it has been taken on a bridge, and this also helps the audience to establish the setting if they didn’t already know where he was from the establishing shot. The fact that the shot has been taken from behind him gives the impression that someone may be watching him. Panning has also been used on the man chasing the antagonist as he turns the corner to go through the doors. The effect of this allows the audience to follow his route/footsteps as if we were actually in that scene watching him.

By Sophie.C