media work for my chosen genre film opening.

1. 7. Looking back at your preliminary task (the continuity
editing task), what do you feel you have learnt in the
progression from it to full product?
From the preliminary task to the film-opening task, I learnt about different
camera shots such as close up shot, tracking shot, establishing shot. They are
very important as helps to introduce a new scene and it contributes to the film
plot. Also Editing techniques for instance jump cut, action match make the
film look more realistic, it helps the viewer to see all kinds of actions in the
film from different angles, as if the viewer is actually there.
For the chosen film opening, we included three time-lapse/establishing shots;
the actual footage of each location we filmed took around half an hour, so we
could edit it by changing the speed of the location footage to 7 seconds and
make an effective time-lapse. We had to wait an extra 20 minutes for the
Greenwich time-lapse because the sunset was longer than expected.
In my preliminary task, I wasn’t very good at filming in smooth pace; e.g. the
pan shot was not very good. But I improved my skills by practicing afterwards
when I had the camera with me at home. Then for the actual filming day in
the house, after a few takes, I successfully filmed the first scene, which was a
pan up when the protagonist getting up from his sofa to put on his shirt then a
pan down as he sat back down to watch the news.
Preliminary task Pan:
I couldn’t really follow the 180 degree rule, as the camera pans from right to
left because I couldn’t wasn’t very good at using a camera then.

2. Film opening Pan:
I filmed this, making sure the whole pan up/pan down shot was steady,
smooth and shows the viewer that the protagonist is watching TV, but he is
going to put on his shirt and whilst he put on his shirt, you will see his big scar
and tattoo.
I also filmed the over the shoulder shot of the protagonist continuing to watch
the TV news report.
This was filmed because it would allow the viewer to be aware that the
protagonist is still showing his back to us but it also allows a little picture
from the TV from the news report to be seen so the viewer is aware as to what
exactly he is watching. We also included a voiceover, from an actual television
report in a echoing tone, so it shows this is how it sounds in the protagonist’s
ear, the news report is running through his
mind.
We added two opening credits

3. in the shots where there was space, so in the first and fourth screenshot, we
thought these shots had most space, and the opening credits contribute to
make the opening look like an actual film opening. We picked a font that is
simple and formal, so it suits to the Crime/Mystery genre expectations.
whilst the opening credits appear, there is an action match of the protagonist
going upstairs to his room. I learnt that adding the action match will help the
viewer to trace the protagonist’s upstairs, as if the viewer is secretly following
him, which links to the protagonist’s creepy ambience throughout the
opening. The clock and watch shot is an eye line match, we wanted to raise
the idea that time is important for the protagonist, he has got plans, which
leads him to
head
upstairs.
We decided to film this in the protagonist’s eye because we wanted to state it is
more effective if we film this scene as a point of view shot, where he heads
towards his computer and sits on the chair and looks up to his screen, where a
hacking screen fades in because as the viewer is aware, the hacking screen is a
secret and its only for the protagonist’s eyes.

4. We included the hacking screen by downloading a false hacking clip online,
and then the Mac computer had this feature where you can record what you
are doing on your computer screen, so we clicked on the record button on the
file browser and then we played the hacking clip and added to the scene with
the blank computer screen scene.
We added another fade in of close up pan; from left to right of the map that I
redesigned to made the map look worn out and ancient. We agreed that this
close up pan would be effective because it flows very nicely with the previous
scene, which was the fade in of hacking file that appeared on the computer
screen. It makes the introduction of the film to be very discreet and
mysterious, it highlights all the key items to the viewer because if we were
filming the rest of the film, the map and hacking screen would appear a lot
times. We added red pins to the map to point out the specific areas in London
that he will take over, but the viewer would not be told, instead it could lead
the viewer to be even more suspicious of the protagonist and be curious as
why he has 3 areas targeted.
We filmed back to the original style of keeping the protagonist to be faceless
because we wanted to continue the anonymity persona from him. We filmed
another action match so we are aware of what he is going to next, which was
grab the deck of cards from his drawer; where you see his white iPhone along

5. with additional props. We first filmed a long shot to clarify where he is, him
sitting by his computer. Then we filmed a close up of him taking the cards to
signify another clue that he is a questionable protagonist, other clues were
him watching the news, hacking screen, map.
We added subtle jump cuts of the protagonist putting on his blazer and
putting the cards in his pocket, and then we added another scene of him
buttoning his blazer. These 2 scenes are significant because it tells the viewer
that the protagonist is getting ready to leave and the story will be building up,
as we only introduced the house and his heist of 3 locations in London. We
filmed the cards again because we wanted to raise the importance of these
cards, it could suggest that it’s his hobby of being a magician or he uses it to
con people since he is a criminal mastermind.
We filmed an mid-shot of the protagonist
receiving a mysterious from a lady who says the
numbers “74273” as he leaves the room. We don’t
show who the lady is or we intentionally didn’t
film a close up of his phone screen, so the viewer
could have seen the caller ID. If we filmed the rest
of film, we would unravel as to who is this lady and what’s her role and story
in the film.
The numbers she says, link to the his tattoo design and the film title to
highlight importance of the number, since it’s the numerical initials to the
Shard, which will be main heist for personal reason that we would of filmed if
we were filming the entire movie.

6. The last opening scene was dolly shot of the protagonist walking in his
passageway, towards the door. Then the camera stops moving forwards as
soon as the protagonist opens the door to illustrate that we are done watching
the opening scene. Then camera then zooms towards the mail-slot. We edited
that zoom in by adding a slow fade out, so then it ends in darkness. The black
screen would appear with the fade in/fade out of the film title, to clarify that
the opening is over and now the film narrative will move forward.
My editing was okay for the preliminary task, but it was much
better for the film opening. Also I filmed a shot-reverse-shot too.
But the shot were too quick.

7. This is another pan shot from left to right in my preliminary task, it could
have been a decent pan shot but firstly, I was too fast and secondly, I didn’t
follow the 180 degree rule, that’s why the pan shot did not come out good. It
looked like a homemade clip, rather than professional film footage.
In my preliminary task, I learnt that by not adding the score, diegetic sound
and having the relevant camera shots and editing make the film look very
boring to watch. My camera work wasn’t great but it has improved a lot for the
film opening. I learnt that practicing how to use the tripod and camera
efficiently does benefit your film representation very much. Since I am into
designing and drawing, making the production logo and film title really
helped to improve my skills even more in Photoshop and now I’m good at the
Motion software. Although we had no dialogue in our film opening, having
the character to be faceless in the opening would hopefully help the viewer be
intrigued of how the rest the movie would play out as we introduce the
character’s face and his life story as a protagonist and antagonist in the film.