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

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

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

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