jack isolated evaluation

EVALUATION

Monday, 16 April 2012

9 Key Frames


I have selected what I think are the nine key frames in my opening sequence. Each frame shows various aspects in regards to the locations, the costume, the fonts, the effects and the narration.

The framing in the first key frame is a long shot that introduces the character as well as the costume. This shot is also hinting on what location they are in. My partner an I decided to film this shot in this way because we wanted to make it feel like a holiday documentary, In the shot the cameraman pans the camera from the plane to the character. The reason for this is to set the scene to let the audience know where they are and what they are doing.

The second key frame is and exterior panning shot of the airplane flying. For this shot I added a sound effect of a plane flying. This shot was created thorough a flight simulator where I recorded the screen of my computer. Whilst I was editing, I cropped the clip to show the necessary piece of footage. I decided to use the flight simulator to record the plane flying as the graphics look very realistic and it flows very well with the narration. If we didn't decide to use this effect, It would of made the narration very difficult to understand.

The third frame we also filmed as if it was a found footage video effect of a panning close up shot of the character. This shot clearly identifies the location of the shot and clearly flows well with the narration. In this shot, I added the sound effect of the planes engine in the background to keep the continuity. In this frame, the audience can identify what the characters wearing which is a smart, casual look. This section of the sequence builds up a lot of suspense as the plane flies through severe weather.


The fourth frame contains a lot of drama as this section of the sequence is the ending to the build up and suspense as the plane crashes out the sky. We used an interference screen effect to portray the plane crash. This final shot is the ending of the narrative and the introduction scene, the shot ends with a long fade out.

The fifth key frame is the beginning of the credit sequence. This shot is an establishing shot where the audience can establish many elements to the show including the location, the fonts, the music and the drama. This shot fades in to a new location which is the lost island the plane has crashed on. Then the music and the font abruptly appear together with the music being a loud dramatic into. Throughout this shot, the camera is shaking, this shows the audience the emotions and the physiological being of the cameraman as he is filming.

The sixth and seventh key frames are of the actors being introduced. The camera shot used in these credits is called the ʻDolly zoomʼ or ʻHitchcock zoomʼ or ʻA Jaws shotʼ as this camera effect has been used in the films ʻVertigoʼ and ʻJawsʼ. The dolly zoom is a camera effect used by filmmakers to represent a sensation of unrealism and shock which both characters have gone through in the sequence.The font used in the credits is called ʻHerculanumʼ which is a Photoshop text. The reason my partner and I chose this font is because it related very well with nature and looks similar to the font used on Dinotopiaʼs opening credits that my partner and I both thought was similar to our sequence in terms of characters and location. The type of actions the characters are portraying look confused and unsettled.


The eighth Key frame is a very key element in the credit sequence as it contains a major part of the plot. The shot is a point of view shot from a mysterious creature jumping onto the character. This shot contains a lot of drama and suspense, the use of music changing dramatically when the creature jumps on the character really helps set the scene. My partner and I thought adding the visual effect on the creature makes it easier for the audience to understand what is happening and keeps the narrative flowing. The shot ends with an abrupt cut which represents the character had been attacked and has blacked out.

The final key frame ends the narrative and the credit sequence. The mise en scene shows the location, the shot type and the character. The camera shot in this clip is a point of view shot from the camera as it is being dropped. The narrative suggests that the cameraman could be in shock or fear as he drops the camera and runs away. This section of the credit sequence contains a lot of drama and suspense as it leaves the audience wondering what will happen to the characters.


9 Key framesDinotopia

This Is the opening credit sequence I compared to. I focused on this television show the most as it shares the same narrative just portrayed in a different story.

Same Narrative(Plane Crash)

Same use of fonts

Same ages of leading roles


Construction Process• What I found to be most enjoyable in the process was going out and filming the shots. I very

much enjoyed visiting Duxford Imperial War Museum and having the freedom to film inside a real aircraft. I also enjoyed the editing process as my partner and I were able to transform various clips into a structured sequence. I also found creating the mood board, the nine key frames and the storyboard to be exciting as my partner and we could then put our ideas on paper and start bringing everything together.


• What I found to be most challenging in this project was the pre production and research stages where I had to gather various pieces of work on the target audience for our television drama as well as creating a questionnaire on different genres for my sequence. The reason I found this process to be a challenge was because I had to hit deadlines on time which meant I had to work on various tasks at the same time. What I also felt was challenging was deciding on the soundtrack and fonts for our television drama as my partner and I wanted it to suit our genre the best.


• My partner and I faced many problems from the outset to our process. Because we had such a technical and complex plot, we had to think up solutions into how we should approach them. One of our main problems was that in the sequence, a plane crashed on a lost island. We thought up various solutions to create this effect but I came up with an idea to solve the problem. What I decided to do was to use a game I have got on my Mac called X-Plane, which is a realistic flight simulator. What I did was I set up a plane we wanted to use and the weather to make it stormy, I then simply flew the plane and then crashed it. I used various camera shots and the graphics on the game made it look very realistic. I used an application called Screen flow to Record the gameplay. Another problem we faced was filming inside and airplane. What we did to resolve this problem was to get in touch with the Duxford Imperial War Museum and explain to them that we were media students that were making a project and if they had the certain plane we wanted to use and would it be possible to film inside the aircraft. The war museum let us film inside the plane we wanted with no problems. The other problem we faced was when we are filming inside the aircraft, there were no other passengers in the plane to make it look realistic. What we did to resolve that problem was when we were editing, we just used close ups of ourselves and not the whole interior of the plane.


• I found working in a team really helped me achieved what I wanted from the beginning of the project. My partner helped me very much with coming up with ideas and how they should be portrayed. Being with a partner means we could split the work up making it a much easier and faster process. My partner and I also have a very good relationship which made it easy for us to communicate and get work done.


Legal And Ethical Consideration

A legal and ethical consideration I had to make was to use copyright free music from Creative Commons to use for our opening sequence. Creative Commons Organization allows the public to share media materials such as Music and photographs using free and legal tools. What I did first was I researched copyright free music sights where I then searched for a piece of music that suits our title sequence. I found its quite a struggle to find the exact piece of music either because it was not right for our sequence, or that it couldnʼt be downloaded. In the end I managed to find a sound track that worked very well with the genre and theme of our sequence. I downloaded the soundtrack from ʻJamendoʼ


Skills And DevelopmentThe technologies I used in this project included effects including foley sounds, What I did to achieve this was to find a white noise from inside an airplane in which you hear people talking, coughing and the airplanes engine running. I found this from found footage that I shot myself on a real aircraft on a holiday. I deleted the video and kept the audio which I then added to the sequence. My partner and I created text in Photoshop to use for the credits in the sequence. Once we had found the text that most suited our genre, we then opened it in Final Cut where we then places it accordingly. We also used various Final Cut tools to alter some of the clips including the exterior shots of the plane flying which I created from using a flight simulator game. I had to crop the clip to get rid of any unnecessary parts showing.


When editing in Final Cut, I added a video filter effect to the shot where a mysterious creature is jumping onto Jackʼs back. The reason I did this was to hint to the audience that it could be an out of this world violent creature.


Quality Of Final Product

I think ʻISOLATEDʼ is appropriate to the brief given and it is also suitable for our target audience by the use of the characters being portrayed the way they do and also the relationship between the two characters. I think this sequence was very strong in terms of technical strengths as we have brought in a lot of separate found footage and home made effects into the final sequence. Examples of the technical strengths we used was the flight simulator to represent the exterior shots of the plane flying through a storm which gave the sense of realism to the audience. We also used the clip of found footage I shot when on holiday of the camera recording out of the plane window when taking off which worked very well. Other technical strengths I thought worked very well was the credits we created from Photoshop as they work very well with the genre of the opening sequence as well as the music as it helps the audience set the scene for the whereabouts of the location it is set in and what genre it portrays. The opening sequence in the end was almost identical to the original idea that was thought up. The introduction of the opening credits worked very well therefore we stuck to our original idea. Although we stuck to the original idea, my partner and I decided to have some of the story running with the credits instead of a long introduction scene. We did this because the sequence would of been too long and we thought it worked very well as the audience can still follow on with the story whilst the credits are being shown.


Overall

Overall I am very happy with how this project turned out. I am very pleased that we got permission to film at Duxford War Museum which really made an impact in the opening scene. I thought the flight simulator worked very well and made the flight scene very realistic. I am also pleased I worked with my partner I chose as we both shared the same interest and enthusiasm and we both came up with good ideas to use in ʻISOLATEDʼ


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