Creative critical reflection -3

How did your production skills develop throughout this project? 

Creative critical reflection -2

Creative critical reflection -1

How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?

Final Video - Paper Boy

(Music taken from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oh6NKK8M2VQ)

Second Take - Paper Boy

I had initially finalised this as the film opening to my story. However, after showing the video to a few of my friends and teachers at school, I got some feedback regarding a few elements that they thought were either missing or should be changed. Therefore, the changes that I made in this video were, adding two scenes which would better establish that the character is interested in education as well as extending a scene of him riding his cycle. These two edits allowed me to add more content to my video and doing justice to my storyline. 

Use of titles - Paper Boy

One of the conventional methods of using film titles is placing them in the left or the right bottom corner of the screen. I have used this method and placed the titles on the opposite sides on the subject in my frames. I consciously shot the footage in a way that there were empty spaces in the frame to use titles. 

The titles appear when there is more fore-ground. By using an effect to give motion to the title, it is made to appear as the character starts moving out of the frame. 

A similar method is used in the opening sequence of the film ‘Social Network’.  The character is running on one side while the titles appear on the opposite side of the frame. Similarly as the character in my film rides on his bicycle towards the right side of the frame, titles appear on the left side. 

The typefaces that I have used are Avenir heavy and Avenir book. The main title is in typeface ‘Impact’. These are simple clean fonts and have been used in black or white colors. I wanted the titles to be easily viewable on solid the solid colour empty spaces in the frame. 

Social Network: Title(left side) Protagonist (entering from the right side) 

Social Network: Title(left side) Protagonist (entering from the right side) 

Paper Boy: Protagonist (standing on the left side) Title (on the right corner) 

Paper Boy: Protagonist (exiting on the right side) Title (on the left corner) 

Study of sound in a film

I am born in a time period where films have evolved drastically in the ways they are made. Therefore, it was hard for me to even imaging a movie without sound. It was only when I came across films such  as those of the legendary actor – Charlie Chaplin, that I found out about silent films. However, this also made me realize the power of sound and the value it gives to silence. Sound is like editing; it is has no limits to its creative possibilities. A filmmaker can mix any natural sound to design a sensible piece of music, thus a lot more meaningful relations can be created by putting visual along with acoustic possibilities. 

There are three aspects of sound that we perceive. These are perceptual properties of film sound. Their interaction with each other defines the overall texture of a film. 

Loudness: Which we all understand as volume when we try to increase and decrease, in our speakers.

Pitch: Which tells us how low and deep the voice or sound is or high and shrill it is. 

Timbre: The quality of the sound which we can identify as we hear from different stereo systems.

Similarly, sound in cinema is categorized into three types. These types are selected, altered and finally combined along with the visuals in a film.

Dialogue: Which is scripted before the film as the story progresses and is finally said by the actors in the film.

Music: Is ideally given after the film has been shot to enhance a particular mood of the scene as well as create a sense of anticipation of the story. 

Sound Effects: Which is recorded during the shoot as well as added to the visuals during the edit of the shoot. The purpose of it is to make every scene more realistic to the audience as well as add drama while showing certain actions and reactions in the film.

First Take- Paper Boy

This is the first cut of the film, which I have edited to make it fall under the time frame of 2 minutes. Here, I have only selected and trimmed every scene that I would like to use to tell my story and put it in flow. In this cut, I have not added the soundtrack and it only has the natural sound that was captured during the shoot. I have also not added the titles to this cut.

Editing software used

iMOVIE- used for editing 

It’s a user friendly software and has features that are apt for my editing process. The transitions that are used throughout the film are 'fade to black' and 'cross-dissolve.' Also with the use of title slides, I was able to customize the fonts.

Four layers have been used, two visual layers – the title slide with a black background and the title appearing with a certain effect. The other layer is text over-lay on the visual. The software gave me the option to decide where the text can be put on the frame. The third layer is the natural sound that was added to cut and control the amplification. The last layer is the sound track that was cut where required and 'fade-in' and 'fade-out' was used to maintain the progression in the movie and to keep it smooth. 

Besides this, the software’s tool bar gave me the option to control the intensity of the light /temperature /brightness and saturation.

GARAGE BAND was mainly used to edit natural sounds. This gave me the option to trim the sound-clip. With the help of the sound graph, I was able to control the amplification of the sound in specific areas. I also used to cancel out the unnecessary sounds like disturbance and murmurs out of the clip. 

Editing

This video was not too difficult to edit as the shots I had decided on the shots I needed beforehand, and went into the edit with a clear idea of what I had, and what wanted.

Each cut starts before the entrance of the subject and ends after he has left. It was important to consciously keep just right amount of timeframe between the entrances and exits.

The dim light effect has been used while editing, by controlling the brightness and contrast to have only enough light to make the scene visible.

I have used natural sound along with a low sound track for this film. The opening sequence starts with only natural sounds of birds chirping which does not continue through out the scene. Only the sound track plays as the scene continues.

In the bathroom scene, the natural sound is not present while he enters, only starts while he performs the activity of washing his face.  

In order to enhance a certain visual even more, like the title of the film ‘Paper Boy’, the sound is completely muted. This is done to create focus on the title. 

Camera work

All aspects of making the film come together to create the mood of the film. In this film there is one protagonist doing morning chores and a feeling of loneliness is created. It should be apparent that the boy has responsibilities and he carries them out every day. 

While shooting the film all of these things were taken into consideration. In my camerawork I used 'still' frame shots. Every shot is taken in such a way that the character’s face does not show. The persona of the character has been built through the settings, his actions and his body. There is no established shot where the character is seen completely. Only hints of his body or movement of his hands and legs are used. 

Every shot has close ups, of objects or certain aspects of a physical element which is significant for the setting. There is a cause and effect which is created by these objects/close ups. For example, waking up is an effect of the alarm ringing, the cycle appears in focus and then the character appears to show the reason for the cycle - for him to go and work.

A deliberate entrance and exit of the subject is shown in every frame by using empty frames (where the actor is not present) in the beginning and at end of each scene. 

Close up shot of the hands interacting with the water flowing from the tap.

Close up shot of the feet's movement along with the peddle of the cycle.

Close up shot of the news paper to establish its importance as well as keeping it in context to the next scene. 

Close up shot of the clock to give a sense of cause and effect.

Overall, the camerawork has been consciously chosen to give the viewer a feeling of loveliness, of responsibility and a sombre tone to the character's story.

Reflections of the shoot

While shooting the film in the morning, I had to search for a street where there was nobody around and also had a street lamp under which I could shoot a few scenes. To get the correct angle was a challenge as I needed to shoot the boy’s movements without showing his face. Therefore, I took multiple shots including close-ups of the boy's hands and feet while he is doing his required movements such as washing his face, placing news papers on the cycle, riding the bicycle on the street and throwing the newspaper outside a house. The actor also had to act multiple times to get the right pace of the movements in order to ensure that the actions such as the entrances and exits from the frame are not too fast or too slow.  Overall with the limited amount of time that I had, I managed to get enough footage to finally select the right shot while editing. 

Another challenging part during the production was to record the natural sound, in order to be able to give an authentic sense of the ambience as well the right sound during every movement, I had to position myself along with the mic at the right distance. This way I had to avoid being too close to the subject or too far, so that I do not miss out on recording the detailed sounds. However, by making sure I took enough retakes of the required scenes, I was able to shoot all my scenes during the timeline created before the shoot. Finally while recoding the 'natural sound' during most of the scenes, I realised that it could also have been recorded later as I can always add it externally to my footage during the editing process. 

SHOOTING SCHEDULE

The plan for shooting is as follows. 

5 AM TO 6 AM

Out door shoot

• take street light shots
• take enough shots in multiple angles of the boy with the newspaper and the cycle
• boy riding cycle
• boy carrying news papers + putting them on the cycle
• get the right background – empty street. No sounds except morning sounds

6 AM TO 7AM

Out door shoot

• Boy riding on the streets
• Natural sounds with people as the city is waking up 
• Shoot in a residential area setting - shot of actor throwing the paper
• Shot of second actor picking it up and going inside

 9 PM onwards

 In-door shoot

Bedroom - 

• alarm rings
• boy wakes up - artificial light

Washroom - 

• boy washes his face
• use artificial light
• use natural sound of the water being splashed on the face

Defining and choosing the character

(http://www.thehindu.com/multimedia/dynamic/01071/03NXG_P_11_DIFFERE_1071690e.jpg)

I chose this image to give an idea of the condition of my character while he distributes newspapers. The feeling one would get by seeing this boy would be sympathetic.  

(http://www.thehindu.com/multimedia/dynamic/01902/19bgmp_iam_1902167e.jpg)

This image shows a boy who is dressed presentably and is equipped with a cycle to deliver the news papers. This is how I would like my actor to look as well, because he is supposed to be well read and educated. 

(http://www.brooklynfilmfestival.org/films/2002/paperboys.jpg)

This image is a close up of the boy riding a cycle along with the street in the background showing the setting and the location. I would like to shoot my character in such a frame where his hands or legs are highlighted and avoiding showing the face.

Mise-en-scene - Paper Boy

Paper Boy is a coming of age tale that revolves around the protagonist who is, as the title suggests, a paper boy. The costumes will be minimalistic and aesthetically sound enough to satisfy the context within which the plot has been set. Most of the clothing seen will be regular, daily wear attire which will reflect the economic and financial status of the character; with solid pastels to be used as the basic color palette and extremely unadorned and basic elements of clothing. The setting and lights are specifically chosen to accommodate the character. Hence one will find locations that are familiar to the layman, but given an austere feel by the low-key lighting. These tiny elements will come together to communicate the economic circumstances of the protagonist. We will see the character's interaction with these spaces, and how it evolves over the course of the entire film will drive home the 'coming of age' genre of the film. However, as my task is limited to creating the opening video, we will see the protagonist's interaction with his surroundings at the beginning of his journey of change. Staying true to the idea of minimalism, I will be using completely natural light and no external sources will be used. This will help provide my viewer with an extremely realistic and believable picture.

Mise-en-scene - Paper Boy

Technical Equipment

CAMERA - I will use a DSLR camera (Canon 550D) that will allow me to attach different lenses through which I can shoot the required scene. A standard lens (18-55mm) will be used during the comparatively wide frame, and a 50mm prime lens will be used for the close up shots as well the early morning shots that requires me to shoot under low-key lighting. Overall, the quality produced by this camera would High Definition, which will make the colours in the frame as well as the motion in the frame much richer and smoother. 

TRIPOD- This particular piece of equipment will make the experience of shooting much easier as well as more professional. With the help of a tripod, the camera will be still and I will able to avoid shaky movements during the shoot. 

MIC - I will be using a 'Boom' mic to record the sound separately. I could also use the inbuilt mic of my camera in order to record the sound, however the quality would different. I will use the boom mic during the entire shoot as I need to shoot natural sound, such as the ambient sound of street as well as the movements of the actor. 

Trial Video - 1

In this video, I am tracking my friend as he walks alone on the street and being himself. Here I have experimented with camera angles as well as framing. The video starts with him opening the door as he walks outside his house. The action of opening the door got me to take a close up of the the door from the time its being opened till my friend walks by and its yet focused on the door. Similarly, in the rest of the video I have kept my frames still, however the movements of my friend are changing in every frame. The use of a 'back shot' along with the 'front shot' of my friend is to establish the location which he is walking in as well as his reaction and emotions while walking in the same surrounding.  This video was made primarily to get familiar with the equipment I will using, as well as to check shots in low-lighting. 

Possible credits and timeline

Timeline: After visualising my story, I have created a table of the possible credits that I would place during the opening of the film. This is also for me to get a rough idea as to the number of credits that I can mention in the given  time frame. 

Storyboard - My film opening sequence

I create a story board for my film opening sequences to get a rough idea about the progression of my film as well as the style of shooting. Below I have attached my sketched story board which has been divided into 7 main shots where which are the highlights of my story. 

Frame 1: Mid close up of an alarm clock besides a bed, ringing at the centre of the frame.

Frame 2: The character getting up from the bed and a mid close up of the movement of the feet shown in the frame.

Frame 3: Character entering the washroom to wash his face. Close up of the interaction of the hands with the water flowing from a tap being shown in the frame. 

Frame 4: Wide shot of street with a part of the cycle shown in the frame. Mid close up of the character's hand placing newspapers on the cycle. 

Frame 5: Close of up the feet of the character as he drives away on his cycle.

Frame 6: Mid close up of a front side of a house along with a wide shot of the character throwing the news paper in the house.

Frame 7: Extreme close up of the stairs with the newspaper lying besides it. A close up of a characters hands while picking up the newspaper and walking away.

Storyline - Paper Boy

In order to create a film opening, I first had to come up with a rough storyline and script idea. Inspired from some of the examples I looked up as a part of my research, I decided to make my film about a boy in his late teens, who goes through a journey of change through the course of the film.

'Paper boy 'is a story about a struggling 18-year-old boy who lives a hard life. He is a smart high school student who loves to study and is ambitious. However his parents do not have the resources to support him or even themselves. So, in order earn himself some pocket-money and help his family out financially, the boy delivers news-papers every morning. 

'Paper boy' is intelligent and loves to read. Every morning he delivers the newspaper to some very successful people and sometimes gets a glimpse of them or even manages to make conversation. This paperboy reads the news-paper everyday. Sometimes he also comes reads about some of the people he delivers to, in the newspaper. This diligent boy is loved by all and never goes unnoticed by the people he delivers newspapers to. Paper-boy has many ambitions for his life and he finds himself getting closer to them every now and then. But there are struggles, with himself, with his family and even the society which put him in an ‘almost there’ situation. The film ‘Paper Boy’ is about his everyday life and the difficult situations that pull him back every time he is closer to his goals. 

I plan to have my film opening show a glimpse into a day in his life. It shows how he starts his day early in the morning and you can clearly tell that this is routine for him.  His identity in the opening sequence is hidden in order to build a sense of anticipation. The audience only sees the paperboy's face after the opening sequence. 

Coming Of Age - Indian Films

WAKE UP SID: This is one of the most recent and most popular examples of a coming of age film in the Indian film industry. This film was shot in the year 2009 and was directed by Ayan Mukerji. The film is about a college student, Sid, who has been spoilt because of his father's wealth and mother's pampering. His depicted laziness leads to him failing his exams and eventually, being kicked out of the house by his father. Over the course of the film, Sid goes through the process of learning to live responsibly and on his own, with the help of a new friend. The overall mood of this film is very ‘happy go lucky’ where the character is fun and easy for the audience to relate with.

UDAAN: The title of the movie means ‘to take flight’. This movie is based on a teenager, Rohan who studies in a boarding school. In the opening itself, we see Rohan getting expelled from his boarding school and being forced to go back home and live with father, which whom he has a difficult relationship. The story revolves around this father-son relationship, and how Rohan learns to deal with it and eventually, break free. The treatment of the story and the film is more serious, provoking intense emotions. 

Both these films focus on the stories of young boys who faces hardship and are put in situations that makes them helpless. While both are based on a conflict in father-son relationships, the progression of both the these films is very different, along with the treatment, giving both films a distinctly different feel. Wake-Up Sid is more popcorn-entertainment, with a dose of humor, fun and some romance too. Udaan, on the other hand, is more sombre, dark and gritty.

The setting of both these films is also different. Udaan is set in a small town in central India. This is reflected strongly in the dialogue, both in terms of language and context. Wake Up Sid, on the other hand, has a much more urban and metropolitan setting. The film is clearly set in Mumbai, and the city and its culture figure prominently in the film.

These films are thus, perfect case studies of how films can belong to the same genre and be based roughly along similar story lines, but still be such different products.

Coming Of Age Films - Examples

In recent times, Boyhood (2014) is one the best examples to understand the coming of age genre. It traces the journey and life of a boy from age six through eighteen. Since this movie has been shot over a period of eleven years, the concepts of growth and life are brought out quite realistically as we can see the actual growth of the actors over the course of production. Interestingly, director Richard Linklater, during the making of this film, incorporated real life experiences of the actors as they grew through the production period. Linklater developed the script and screenplay of the film through the production, developing the next sequence according to the previous year's footage and incorporating the changes in the actors themselves in order to be be true to the requirement and essence of the film.

 

Historical coming-of-age films have become especially popular in the post-war period. Johnny Tremain (1957) tells the story of a Revolutionary War-era silversmith's apprentice. Most of these stories are set no more than 20 years prior to date when they were first produced.

The reason I chose these two examples was that they both belong to a different time period. Therefore, the style and method of shooting these both films are very different as well. Johnny Tremain is a 1957 movie where the setting of the story which is during the war era is giving direction to the characters growth. On the other hand, 'Boy Hood 'which has been evolving around the character himself, has been shot more through the perspective of the boy allowing his growth throughout the movie to define the setting and the progression. Overall both these movies have been classic examples of two different kind of movies falling under the same genre. 

Choosing the genre of the film

In film theory genre refers to the method based on similarities in the narrative elements from which films are constructed. Most theories of film genre are borrowed from literary genre criticism. Besides the basic distinction in genre between fiction and documentary (from which hybrid forms emerged ,founding a new genre), film genres can be categorised in several ways. Some of the more common genres that one finds are Romance, Comedy, Tragedy, Action, Thriller, Horror etc. However, more often than not, most films are a culmination and hybridisation of various genres. 

In genre studies, coming of age is that which concentrates upon the journey of the protagonist from a young child/ adolescent to an adult. It focuses upon the natural growth of the character and most specifically characterised by internal evolution. Coming of age stories tend to emphasis upon dialogue of amongst the characters over action which are often set in the past. The subjects of coming-of-age stories are typically teenagers who are going through a typical adolescent phase. This particular genre mainly talks about an extremely personal exploration of one's growth and  the way it deals with subjects that are part of every human's transitional journey through space and age. Themes of sexual exploration and development of political opinions are often taken up as subjects for these movie's as are ideas of philosophical enlightenment and awakening. Therefore, I chose to base my story upon the genre 'coming of age'.

Film Opening - Analysis

(Fight Club- 1999 film directed by David Fincher)

http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/fight-club/

This is one of my favourite movie's opening scene which takes us through a teeth grinding, nerve tickling projection of the idea of fear and the physical and biological manifestation of it. It starts with the viewer is taken on an outward journey inside the protagonists’ brain, travelling through various murals of the cerebral regions and finally coming out through the skin pores on the protagonists’ forehead, a band of sweat felicitously flowing through micro- organismic trails of skin. The ending brings the viewer out in of the protagonists' brain to the part which make is all so real in an unbelievable way, there is a gun is being pointed into the protagonists mouth.

This entire opening has clearly been created by using visual effects in order to take the audience into the imaginary and yet realistic human brain. David Fincher has created a fast paced momentum by combining effects upon the audience, such as the visual element that shows electrical impulses that travel through various terrains of the nervous systems as a roller coaster movement type fashion as well as keeping a background score which is mash up of heavy rock and punk influence.  Moments of climaxing elevation are noticed as brain movements become faster in sync with the horrifyingly mercurial quality of the sound.The text itself can be seen to strongly suggest themes of identity. The cast and crews identity is displayed to the spectator in the form of titles, however the appearance and movement of these titles can be seen to connote strong ideas of not only identity, but more specifically, the concealed and fractured identities

The most interesting element however, is the thematic relationship that the opening credits establish with the plot of the movie; the idea of cause and effect, the chemical and biological process that cause and project emotion, provide very tangible essence of what the movie is all about. The triviality of Fight club and the emotion behind the fights, is taken away. It is now a more visceral idea that provides a deeper shade to the film. 

Titling Conventions - Example

Tim Burton's Batman of 1989 is one of the earliest movies I remember watching. It is the movie I associated Batman with most strongly, till Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy. It has a conventional opening, without much of the modern effects that are used in the title sequences in superhero movies today. At the same time, it sets the tone for the film quite decisively. With teasing visuals that reveal just a little glimpse, it creates a suspense for the audience and an eagerness to figure out what exactly the visuals could be leading to. The titling has been done in a most contrasting tone and font, compared to the shades of blue in the background. Overall, the conventional style that one would take from this example would be the use of fonts and colour which stand out as well as blend in with the context of the movie, and the idea of revealing just enough to spark the audience's curiosity.

  

Theory - Film Opening

In oder to make my own film opening sequence, I chose to start with understanding the relevance of a film opening through its historical context and a considering a few examples of good film openings. This way I would be able to find the style that I most identify with, and the method in which I would proceed making the film opening.  

About Film Titles

Purpose:

In early days of the motion picture, film titles mainly consisted the name and logo of the movie studio and the presentation of the main characters along with the actor’s names. This was generally observed on title cards. The more major studios at the time had their own title art and logo used as the background of their screen credits in order to make it look exclusive. In the decades since, film titles have evolved into an art form of their own. 

From the 1940s onwards, the more progressive studios began to change their approach in presenting their screen credits, and reimagined the purpose of the film opening. Apart from solely presenting the credits, a film opening was also seen as a tool to grab the audience's attention and set the tone for the rest of the movie. The major studios looked to produce a higher quality of artwork for these sequences. With increased emphasis being placed on the opening, a greater share of resources also began to be allocated to the credits. Now a movie has a main title designer who is responsible for the titles displayed on screen. This work has been classified as motion graphics, title design, title sequences and animated credits. For a more creative approach, the title sequences are presented through animated visuals which are kinetic, and that appear while the credits are introduced on screen.

These are a few examples of film titles which I found to have a strong symbolic representation of the movie:

(Uses contrasting colours emphasising on ‘me’ with image of an airplane suggesting that it has to do with travelling.)

(Brave: Bold use of font with a pattern and design suggesting the time and era or the story.)

(Edgy fonts suggesting a violent mood with a monochromatic choices of colours.)

(A simple use of font with a part of the earth shown in the background seen from the outer space, suggesting the setting of the movie which would be outer space.)