Feedback

1. Variety of shots?
2. Mise-en-scene considered enough
3. Editing - pace? transitions? continuity editing?
4. sound - appropriate? voice over? music? atmosphere?
5. What does the sequence tell you about the whole film? Characters? Narrative? Genre?


There was a variety of camera shots
the opening sequence was edited good and was well thought out
the music was related to the genre and was tight
liked how they done the names
mise en scene could be improved with the live action-where are they? who? why chasing?
like final bit where paper jimmy intorduces himself

Yes, there was a good variety
No costumes but props were good
Well edited introduction with fluid stopmotion
Good music, not alot of voice.
Yes

There were lots of camera shots
props have been used and colour has been considered.
The sequence is flowing with the continuity editing
The soundtrack is appropriate for the film and works to build the atmosphere.
it ques an idea about the main characters and nearly gives away what the film is about, the right amount of clues.

Yes, they were good.
yes many characters and colours (variety)
Continuity editing is good, flows well, good editing on stopmotion.
Reall suitable music, works well with narrative.
yes, about boy who is bullied so creates character - paper jimmy. Gives ideas about characters.

A wide variety of shots.
Music well suited to the film.
Easily identifiable as a kids film.
very good start and finish

The Final Cut!

This is our final version of Paper Jimmy... Hope you enjoy!
Peace x.

Evaluation of Children's Opening Sequence. 

We decided to spend at least two lessons on the titles at the beginning of our video. For this we decided to use stop-motion as previously blogged. This became very time consuming and took a few attempts to get the affect just right. Also, we encountered a problem half way through when we were given a different camera and therefore the colour settings were different which is obvious in our film. In the end however we felt that this on the whole went very well and subsequently became our favorite section of our film. Next we had to film the opening sequence, We were slightly behind schedule at this point and this shows in our content which is slightly rushed and the narrative is not entirely clear. If we were to do this again we would include the opening sequence with the titles so we could of filmed and included the titles both at the same time which would of saved a considerable amount of time and made the film more flowing. When creating the accompanying soundtrack we wanted to create a consistent repetitive melodic sound which we thought created the feel of a children's film, this was successful and we managed to do in a short space of time. On the whole we are relatively pleased with our opening, we focused most of our efforts on the stop-motion titles and the filming let us down in comparison. 

Peace x

Storyboard of childrens film

Stopmotion - Credits

For the opening credits we are using pieces of paper that scrunch up and un-fold using stopmotion. On the paper we are going to childish doodles giving the effect that a child has drawn them. This stopmotion sequence was inspired by opening sequences from films such as 'nacho libre' and napolian dynamite'. The child will be able to associate himself with the drawings.

Peace x

High School Musical

High School Musical is a Disney channel production, brought out in 2006. Initially humble happy music cuts in, setting the general feel good mood for the whole film and the opening scene. The first scene is at a holiday resort, with a children’s party initially. There is children screaming and balloons, something that a child will be able to associate with. Furthermore the first scene is set during the Christmas period, a time that children enjoy and is associated with happiness, again contributing with the happy mood set by the film. The actors are young so the audience, which will be, predominantly children will be able to associate them with the actors. The two main characters are introduced in the opening scene, giving a clue into the narrative. There is karaoke that shows what type of film it is going to be – a musical. The actors are nervous at first; the children will be able to key into this emotion and will have empathy. There is generally a feel good mood, with the song being in a major tone.

Peace x

Sky High

Sky High is a superhero film produced by Walt Disney Pictures, brought out in 2005. The first shot shows the Disney logo, a cult sign for children, showing the target audience, verifying that is a children’s film. Instantly epic music cuts in giving the child viewer a sense of awe. Furthermore a comic book style presentation is used which instantly gives a clue into the narrative and the theme – super heroes. Furthermore comics are something that children enjoy so it will appeal to them. There is a child narrator so children can associate them selves with him, and also makes them feel as if they could easily be in his shoes. To continue this, phrases that children will be familiar with such as ‘mom’ and ‘dad’ are used. Bright colours are used which will be appealing to children are used, drawing them in from the start. A prologue is given, introducing the main characters parents and the main character himself is introduced. Humour is also used, with references to fast food, a type of humour that suits children. The first scene is set in the first morning of high school, a feeling children will be familiar with, making the film almost more realistic to the child.

Peace x

The Incredibles

The opening of the Incredibles is set in the past, you are shown this at the beginning with a black shot with some old dots giving the effect of an old camera being used. It then cuts to a medium close of shot of mr incredible being interviewed., the camera effect in this shot is also made to look old, obviously this film is animated so it is merely and effect rather than a real camera shot. For the sounds it is kind of crackly in order to also give the effect that film is old. it then cuts to tracking shot of mr incredible’s car with all of the gadgets, this has some ld fashioned jazz music playing in the back ground this also is in order to give the illusion that this film was shot along time ago. this introduction to the film sets the scene as it shows us that we are dealing with super heroes that were in the prime quite a while ago.

Peace x

Title Sequence

For our Title Sequence we are planning to use stopmotion to create the effect of paper being screwed up and un-screwed with different credits on each one. We have created this following rough example to demonstrate what we plan on doing:


Peace x

Shrek

Shrek was produced by DreamWorks animation in 2001. It brings to life William Steig's 1990 fairy tale picture book Shrek! The opening credits are created using digital animation. The protagonist is instantly introduced, and the following scenes give the viewers an insight into shreks life. But more importantly it shows that shrek is an ogre, which also shows the fantistical nature of the film. Clues into the narrative are also given, as men attempt to kill shrek but he scares them away. Humour is used constantly throughout the first few minutes setting the mood for the rest of the film – light hearted and comical. For instance, ear wax is used to make a candle. This is simple immature humour that will appeal to most children. Furthermore the song contributes to the happy ‘feel good’ atmosphere that the film creates. The opening scene acts as a backdrop for the rest of the film, introducing the key charcter and setting. Shrek and the Swamp. It also acts as a prologue, showing that Shrek is wanted and essentially an outcast, a key idea throughout the film. Shrek is presented in a comdeic way, and is clearly shown as the protagonist.

Peace x

Home Alone

Home alone was made by Chris Columbus in 1990. The Opening credits begins a light Christmas jingle, with nothing on the screen, the some spooky, Christmas-esque music. An image of the moon covered by fog, fades in. The screen pulls out to reveal a blue house. When the house is fully on the screen, the words home alone slide across to surround the house. Then we go to a house in America, covered in snow and Christmas lights. The sudden change from dark, to bright Christmas time, reveals to us it is light hearted film. We then go into the house, there is a lot of hustle and bustle, people are walking around, and there is a police man standing in the hallway. We then move to a bedroom with a woman talking on the phone, and a man in the bathroom. A small kid runs in and is cheeky to his mum, and reveals that the people in the house are his family.

Peace x

Monsters inc.

Monster Inc. was created by Disney, Pixar in 2001. It is a film created for young children. The films opening credits are made using animation. The words appear from behind doors which gives the viewer a clue behind the narrative of the film. Also, during the opening credits we can see monsters appear from behind doors which again gives the viewer a look into the narrative. The Accompanying soundtrack to the credits of quirky fast paced jazz gives the impression that the movie is going to be light hearted. Once the opening sequence begins dramatic tension is built with quiet creaking noises from doors and floorboards. Finally music builds up to the point of dramatic climax and the monster is revealed. The monster then falls around in a slapstick kind of way suggesting that the movie is going to be comedic.

peace x

Nightmare Before Christmas

The Nightmare Before Christmas was created in 1993 as a childrens movie. In the opening sequence a narrator with a deep voice connoted with evil begins to tell the story. It then proceeds to go into a song which manages to introduce all of the characters in the narrative. The music is very up lifting and light hearted yet the characters are associated with halloween and the lyrics are scary. Then finally the main character is introduced. Although the images alone are quite frightening, with the accompanying music and voices used this is then made into an enjoyable film for children as well.

Peace x

Ideas for Childrens Film.

Genre:
Children's Film


Film Type:
Good cop and a Baddy (robber)
Good and evil
Monsters and Humans
Talking animals
Heaven and Hell, God and Satan
Biblical cartoon
Dinosaurs
Pirates
Legend/Myth
Comedy
Sci-fi
Musical


Title Sequence and Film:
Stop motion animation-credits, then real life sequence
All real life sequence
All stop motion animation
Animation

Peace x

Story boarding

In today's lesson we practiced the art of story boarding by watching a 4 minute, 18 seconds clip of Back to the Future part 1. We were then asked to draw a storyboard that correlated to the opening scene, considering sound, mise-en-scene and camera work. We learned that by using arrows we can show directions in which the camera moves instead of explaining. By using significant images we were able to cut down the amount of pictures used in the storyboard and made it easier to understand. When we are making the storyboard for our coursework all these techniques will be beneficial in making an effective storyboard.

Peace x

In 1997 the children's film "Flubber", starring Robin Williams was released. The story goes as Professor Phillip Brainard, working with his robot sidekick weebo, try to create a substance that will be a new source of energy. He is engaged to the college (to where he is a professor) principle. He has missed two of their weddings and is going to have a third, untill he invents flubber, a material that can fly through the air.

The film starts off with the opening credits. A blue sky with whispy clouds appear, and letters form on the screen, and then they merge together to create a word, then they disband, and another set of letters form another word. This goes on for over a minute. The camera then pans down to reveal a boulevard. It carries on going until it is horizontal with the road. The boulevard has rows of tree's, houses and cars on either side of the road. We also see a paper boy biking down the road. This presents to us a nice and calm atmosphere. It then tracks to the left, and then pan's to the left, to reveal a house. The paper boy throw a paper onto the doorstep, and we get a close up of the head line, there is a picture of an old man with the words "Hoenicker Threatens To Close College". We then switch to a shot of an old motor, and the camera pans to the left to reveal plants and smoke bellowing for the background. We carry on to see a airplane motor, and other mechanical things. We then eventually get to some gas canisters, and a bin, and an alarm clock is heard, the camera looks up at a window. We then switch to a close up of a glass of water, and surrounding it, are stacks of books. We then pan to the right to reveal an image of a woman, and then we see an alarm clock ringing, and moving across the desk. We then see an arm move up, and then we switch back to the alarm clock as it falls of the desk, we go back to the arm, and someone shouts "and i'm up", the arm flies down and hits a button. We then move to a shot of the bins we saw earlier outside. Smoke bellows from beneath them, and we get a high shot, and a low shot of the bin flying towards the sky. We then cut to a shot of the bed, and we can hear a woman shouting, Williams sits up and says "up and ready for a new day". We then get a long shot of his bedroom. He sits on the side of his bed in stripy pyjamas, and puts on his glasses, his room is filled with books. The woman down stairs sings "oh what a beautiful morning", Williams sings in response, "oh what a beautiful day", He gets up a walks. From this scene, we have met the main character, and have been shown he is a cheerful person, and by all of the books we pressume he is an intellegent person. Due to the singing and the light comedy, the atmosphere is cheerful. The soundtrack at the very beginning is light, cheerful music, adding to this atmosphere.

Peace x

Children's Films and Certificates

A children's film is a film that is primarily aimed to an audience of children. It is different to a family film because it is aimed to just children, not everybody.




A U film is given that certificate if it is suitable for anyone over the age of four. The film must be a positive film to pass the certificate. The film should include no discriminative connotations. The film should include no illegal drug reference, unless it contains an anti-drug message. It can contain mild horror. If it does contain a horror element it should not have behavior children can imitate. It can contain only a little bit violence. If bad language is used it must be mild and infrequent. It should contain no scenes of a sexual nature (minimum of a kiss).



A PG film is given the PG certificate, if it is suitable for a children over the age of eight to watch unaccompanied. A child under the age of eight can watch it, but it is recommended that there is a parent of guardian to watch it with them. Discrimination is unacceptable unless it is a historical context. Illegal drugs are not allowed to be used unless they are for an anti-drug promotion. Scenes of horror must be short, and the scene must be one that a child would not want to imitate. It can only contain mild language. A PG cannot contain scenes of a sexual.




BBFC stands for the British board of film certificates. It gives films its certificates. It was created in 1912, where is cerficified films, and from 1984 it certicified videos. Local councils can overrule the BBFC's decision.

Peace x.

Lemony Snicket

We watched the opening clip of Lemony Snicket, and this is what we got from it. We are introduced to 5 characters. The first character we meet is Lemony Snicket, who is the narrator of the film, then we meet the three children, Violet, Clause and Sunny. We are told that the three characters all have special abilities that we pressume they will use later on. Violet has the abilitie to invent things, Clause can read anything and memorise it, and sunny's ability is to bite things. We then meet a banker, but we dont find out much about him. The atmosphere that is presented to us is one that unsettles us. At the beginning it shows the story of "The Little Elf", this plays for about a minute, it's cheerful. Then the lights cut out and the narrator speaks. It then prepares us for a sad stroy. The scene moves to a sad and dark beach. These to extreme contrasts gives us an unsettling atmosphere, its extremely depressing. The Themes that are presented to us are losing parents, as the three main characters lose there parents. The narrative in the film makes you think the film is going to be happy, and then it changes, and you change your mind. Throughout the opening scenes we learn the story of the characters.

Peace x

Welcome

Hey, this is Justin, Noah, Ruaraidh and Will. We are group 53 and we are going to be producing an opening sequence to a childrens' film. 20% of our marks will be awarded for our planning and research. This consists of analysing existing products so we can further are understanding as well as acquiring inspiration. Secondly, 60% of our marks will be awarded for the construction of the opening sequence. For this we will make sure that we stick to conventions as well as keeping the narrative the same as we planned. Finally the last 20% of our marks is for the evaluation and reflection of our final piece.
Peace x

Welcome