Children's film opening sequence evaluation

Our opening to a childrens film follows a conventional narrative, this being a bad start and a successful happy ending. Our film is about alients infecting the world and 2 men trying everything in their power to prevent this. In the film we can clearly identify the 'baddies' as known by children and then the 'heroes' in this case the men. These characters follow the typical character conventions as there is good and bad. The genre of our film is action/sci fi. This is because the film in tails gun shots and also attack of aliens infecting the world and computers. In the making of our film we have used a variety of shots. We have used a hight shot a low angle shot, a pan shot, and a close up. We used a pan shot in the scene where both men are running to try and save the planet. This was useful because we can identify with them and the panick they will have in order to save the world before it will be too late. We used a close up of the aliens on the computer this way we could immediately identify with the aliens as they are the as known 'baddies' causing the havock which is trying to be solved. The sound we chose for our film was mysterious and upbeat which helped illustrate the the panick and severity of the scenario. The music we chose also matched the genre which is important in pulling the piece together and making it successful. We have used editing in our film to cut and perfect our film. We used programmes to scrap parts of the film and also to include into for instance adding alien scene done by istop motion into our sequence. We also used editing in order to remove sound and chop parts where unwanted sound was recorded. In the making of our film we used a series of props to create our opening. We used camera stands to act as guns when shooting the aliens. We also used computers when the aliens are spreading the infections accross, and playdough when creating the aliens. For the costumes James & Josh (the men) wore dark colours. This was so they would conform to the genre being sci/ fi action. It also makes it seem more mysterious.
In the creation of our film we used screen grabs. This was to capture us using programmes to complete our film. We used istop motion a programme in which you take a number of pictures to animate. We used this in the alien scene when they are infecting the computers. We also used garage band, this was to create a sound which would fit our movie type and lastly final cut express. We used this to edit and complete our film fitting everything together.

Final AS Childrens Film Opening - G20.

Our completed project...

-James, Josh, Marina and Hannah.

We used garage band in the creating of our film. We used this to make the backing track for the film.

We have also taken inspiration from the film 'Laura croft'. This again is a action film. The film has a sense of suspense and mystery which is what we try to create. It is an energetic film involving lots of action and running creating a mysterious atmosphere.

We have taken inspiration from The men in black because of the genre theme, which matches ours as an action / science fiction film opening. The film involves lots of movement and action within it just like our film has.

Analysis of '' Matilda'' opening scene by Hannah Fenn.

For our homework we were asked to analyse a children's film opening and it must contain information about narrative, characters, genre, and atmosphere. I chose to analyse Matilda because i feel it has a large variety of characters, has a good story line, and sticks to conventions.

Narrative: The opening scene of Matilda sticks to the conventions of a children's film opening and the narrator introduces the characters and the plot of the story within the first scene. Matilda has special powers and is extremely clever, this is typical for the main character of the story. The film being called Matilda gives more importance to her.

Character: In the opening scene of Matilda, conventions of a children's film are used by introducing all the characters. The parents of Matilda are presented straight away as unsuitable parents; they show a lack of love and caring personalities. We know this because they don’t seat belt up the baby in the car on the way home from the hospital and when they get home they leave her in the car. The narrator describes the Wormwood's as '' not very nice people''.
From the very first shot Matilda is followed by the camera, and this gives an instant realisation that Matilda is the main character. Following the conventions the main character has something different about them over the other characters, Matilda is also a good person in the family, which presumably makes her the ''hero'' of the story. Matilda being described as an '' extraordinary child '' and the parents being to unloving to care helps determine the plot of the story.

Genre: Matilda is a hybrid, which contains fantasy, adventure and comedy genres.

Atmosphere: The atmosphere in the opening scene is very happy and upbeat. The colours used are bright and colourful and the music is upbeat and joyful, this draws the attention to the aimed audience which is children. When the situation gets better for Matilda the music becomes happier, this informs she is the main character and important.

Example of a film that is similar to our idea :

Our children's film opening is similar to the world wide famous American movie '' High school musical ''. The narrative is similar to high school musical 3, where the students are celebrating their last day of exams through singing and dancing. The characters are overexagerated energetic and exciting and our group decided we wanted a similar effect for our own opening scene.

- Hannah Fenn.

Preliminary Task - James Amey

Preliminary task

My groups preliminary task was to create a short children’s film opening which presented our knowledge of the different types of camera shot that you can use. During this task I believe that my knowledge of the rules associated with filming has been increased, an example of this is the fact that while filming we broke what is known as the 180 degree rule and although we managed to fix this using the ‘flop’ tool in Final Cut Express (which helped me to familiarize myself with the way that the program worked) it has taught me a lesson about... Not breaking that rule. An additional problem that we encountered during the filming of our ‘production’ was the fact that not all of our groups members were present at the time (Yes, Hello Josh, I know your reading this ;) ) this resulted in our first ‘extra’ person we ‘recruited’ to assist us running off half way through due to embarrassment, and then our camera died before we could drag him back. As a result of this, we were confined to a 30 minute time frame during our Lunch break the next day when we managed to recruit somebody who saw the productions filming through to the end, unfortunately part way through one of the filming sequences there was a related discussion going on behind the camera that was audible, however this was easily fixed by lowering/muting the audio level which familiarized me with another element of Final Cut Express. Overall however, with the above complications noted, I feel that we made a fairly good production, it was by no means perfect and could of benefitted from a lot more time to make music and such but we managed to include all the shot types in the criteria and worked well as a team. I think that the group will do well in future projects.

-James Amey

Musical Style:

Alternative 'Musical' style: Blackpool



Basically, this musical style is a bit less... Outrageously stupid than the one that High School Musical uses, instead of the actors pretending they are actually singing the words when they are quite obviously lip synching, the style used in Blackpool has a pre-recorded song which is over layered over the top of the actors own voice singing the tune, the result being a rather intresting blend of two voices, the main dominant voice being the person that can actually sing with the backing track as well, with undertones of the actor (who may or may not be able to sing, but should at least be able to hold a tune).

-James Amey

Our film:

We will make our film a PG as it will contains gun shots and violence and may not be appropriate for younger children.

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).

Analysis to Finding Nemo opening:

The film finding nemo has a hybrid genre as it has a numerous amounts of genres. From the title 'finding nemo' we can tell the film that it will have some aspect of adventure within it.
It aslo has a range of ages, for eg Nemo is a baby fish and Marlin, the dad is older. This could mean children conform to Nemo and adults to Marlin.
The film is set under the sea in the great barrier reef, Australia. The colours are bright which automatically appeals to young children will all different colours and also shades of colours. Finding Nemo also covers fantasy in the way the fish have human features in what they do and the way they communicate. This would appeal to young children as fantasy and surrealism is what they enjoy.
As like most childrens film there is a bad event and happy ending. Finding nemo starts off sadly when revealed he had lost his siblings and has a over protective dad as he tries to protect his only son. We then identify with Marlins feelings as he tells the tale, but when Nemo dis-obeys his dad and swims out of his depth he is then abducted by a scuba diver. The music is then tense and upbeat which adds suspense.
Most of the characters in the film are friendly and conform to the conventional character stereotype to a childrens film however there are the conventional baddies in the film in this case being the sharks as they killed the family.
Nemo and Marlin are clown fish and when the stereotype they are given of being funny they are actually quite the opposite when asked by the school teachers.
Throughout the film the music follows the scenario and this helps us to understand for instance when there is a build up to something going wrong the music goes with this, and when they are having fun for e.g: bouncing on the jelly fish the music is up beat and energetic.
The narrative of the film is a moral in a sense that you should listen to your parents otherwise you will get yourself in un neccessary trouble just like nemo did. Another could be 'never give up on the things you love best' after Nemo was abducted Marlin did not give and continued looking for his son till he was successful.

Shot List

Shot 1: Extreme Long shot of students in car park

Shot 2: Medium close up of students walking into school

Shot 3: Long shot of student waking out of library

Shot 4: Medium close up of student walking down corridor

Shot 5: Long shot of students walking towards exam room

Shot 6: Long shot of students nearing the stairs

Shot 7: Medium shot of 2 students walking upstairs

Shot 8: Long shot of 2 students coming to top of stairs

Shot 9: Over the shoulder shot of students walking into exam room

Shot 10: Match on action shot of stufent walking through the door

Shot 11: High long shot of students sitting at exam

Shot 12: Shallow focus on students walking through the door

Shot 13: Medium shot of students sitting at desks

shot 14: Tracking shot of three students sitting exam

shot 15: close up of bell ringing

shot 16:

Production Meeting

GENRE:
The genre of our film is a action / sci fi

NARRATIVE:
The narrative to our film is aliens spreading infections and people trying to prevent this.

CHARACTER:
we are going to use two main characters. This being James and Josh.

Our idea -

Our idea is similar to high school musical. We are going to have students walking into the exam and then sitting the exam. We will use a range of shots to film. When the exam has finished the students will celebrate end of exams and sing and dance just like in hsm.

We have taken inspiration from the song 'High school musical' to create our own song about secondary school. We think the song fits to our childrens film opening as its jumpy and energetic .
Our song is about children going into exams and then celebrating the end of exams fun after studying long hours.

GROUP SONG !!!

The song:

we’re coming to the final
we’re going to be finished
not long to go now
go! go! go! go!


exams are over oh yes they are
with so much revision weve come so far
spending nights with heads in books
sleep on hold no time for looks
hours and hours of non stop learning
then sitting in exams stomach churning
1000s of words we have to write
even though examiners are tight
we want good grades
and big parades
school is over and summer is here
time for college is getting near
waiting for results an ancxious time
were not going to wait and stand in line
celebrating the good days
its been a long time since yesterday
HIP HIP HOORAY.

(chorus) SECONDARY SCHOOL
WE CELEBRATE WHERE WE COME FROM
ITS THE BEST PLACE THAT WE HAVE KNOWN
TOGETHER THROUGH IT WE HAVE FLOWN
SECONDARY SCHOOL
BA DA BA BA
SECONDARY SCHOOL-L-L-L-L
WE LOVE IT.






;)

Conventions of a childrens film

Most childrens films include :

- bright colours
- animation
- vilains and hero's
- happy ending
- happy music

Marina Ashbourne

While doing this preliminary task we were trying to achieve a recording of several shots which we had previously learnt in lessons.
From doing the task it enabled me to learn how to use the college cameras which is useful for the fact that when doing the opening to a childrens film this will save time as it will not be a new experience. It also gave me a deeper understanding of the shots and allowed us as a group to put the newly learnt skills to practice.
When uploading the clip onto the computer we then had to edit with the programme called final cut express which I learnt to use in order to give our film clip a professional look. By using this programme, we were able to cut any scenes with mistakes and shorten the clip making it look more real.
The 180 degree rule is a way to film effectively especially in a conversation, it works by the camera person imagining a line that cuts through the middle of the scene, from one side to the other with respect to the camera, and not crossing this line. We used the 180 degree rule in our film to record a conversation this creates a sense of realism and we can identify with each actor.

storyboard.

Before creating our own storyboard, we created and practiced making a story board on "back to the future" children's film. Whilst watching the film each member of the group focused on one section and took notes for the start of the film, these sections being; camera movement, character movement, sound and significant images.The pictures show the events in the correct order of the film, and how each scene changes. This exercise has given us a deeper knowledge on how to create a storyboard and doing it correctly, it has also helped us to understand that shots must be spread throughout the grid showing exactly what happens. We created the board on a 6 grid sheet with notes on whats happening.

By Hannah, Marina and Josh.

Preliminary task

By Hannah Fenn.

For my preliminary task I had to create a short video in a group, presenting our knowledge of different shot types. I feel I have learnt a lot during this task which I didn’t know before, especially the 180 degree rule, which is a rule that helps the director, know where to place the camera when making a video, and the match on action shot, which is where shot is continued into the next scene and I think both worked well in the video. We experienced a few problems when filming our preliminary task. There was confusion on the over the shoulder argument where the 180 degree rule was not used properly, although this was over come easily by knowledge on how to use the editing programme on the Mac. Another problem was where you could hear us talking in the background, fortunately we was able to mute the sound in the scenes, without having any major effect. Unfortunately not all of our group members were present for the preliminary task, which made filming hard as we had to rely on people who did not take media, which only allowed us 30 minutes to shoot the video. I think overall our group created a high quality, video. We used all the shot types and worked well as a team, given the problems we faced at the beginning. I feel a lot more comfortable using a video camera, and using the software, which I think will help on other projects aswell.

Conventions of a childrens film,

By hannah marina and josh
Narrative -
- From clues about characters - signifies possible events in narrative.
- Starts - typical atmosphere of children's film - Changes to dark.
- Goes against conventions, normally get a happy start, but we get a moody / dark field.
- Refers to secrets - find out later.
- Focus on kid characters.

Characters -
- Doesn't conform to conventional film.
- Introduction of them , don't speak, see the back of them.
- Old fashioned clothes - not modern era.
- Clever - Books, inventor - determine how how they solve the problem.
- Rich.
- Close family.

Genre -
- Hybrid.
- Adventure - loss of parents.
- Horror - Graveyard aspects.
- Fantasy 0 lack of realism in reaction to situation.
- Flower opening from touch / sense of magical.
- Comedy - biting table, contrast of elf.

Atmosphere -
- Start = happy, light and humorous.
- Changes to gloomy, dark - Its a surprise.
- Music upbeat, joyful, high pitched singing, and laughing.
Lights went out at moment of change.
- Low key lighting / gloomy atmosphere.
- Eerie music / uneasy.
- Bigger impact. contrast to start of film.
- Fog adds to gloomy atmosphere.

Themes-
- Strong theme of family bonds.
- Sibling love.
- Referred to as a group.
- Secrets and mysteries.
- Over coming tragedy

Welcome.

Group members: James, Hannah, Marina and Josh.

Preliminary Task

Welcome