Friday, 18 December 2009

Music Ideas

This is a rough idea for our music. We would like something similar to this.

Wednesday, 16 December 2009

Storyboard Animation

This is an animation of our story board. We have included some titles to roughly see how long it will be. It also shows the order of our shots.

Order of Shots-More Detail using Storyboard

We will have to write about our order of shots in more detail and as much as we can write about them. We will use our Storyboard to help us with writing our detailed shots.

Shot 1-Our very first shot is of a tree covering half the screen (the left side) and we can see the background dead brushes and trees. We can also see a muddy path and then Simon run past, shortly followed by Lewis. We will hear footsteps running, slight breathing and fast non-digetic music in the backgorund. It will be a low angle shot looking up at them running from the ground. It will be a mid shot of them running. They will be wearing casual/disguised clothes to hid there identity and will look mysterious. There is quick editing of the shots to create speed as our genre is action and they are running. We then see the co prouders of our film flash on screen. Black background and white font, in the center of the screen so its your main focus.

Shot 2- We have an OTS, medium shot of Lewis' back looking Simon running infront of him. Its a high angle shot as Lewis is tall and we are looking down. We can see the trees and bushes again and more of the muddy path. They are wearing the same clothes as the first shot and Simon is wearing a back pack. Lewis is chasing Simon down the path. The camera is handheld and shaky so it looks more realistic you can hear the non-digetic fast music and can hear there breathing and footsteps. We then see a title saying directed by in white font on a black background in the center of the screen.
Shot 3- The next shot we see is of Lewis and Simon running again, we have lots of these type of shots as it is a chase scene and we need lots of shots to create speed. This is a medium shot of them, It will be a center angle so that we can see them both and they wont be slanted or slighly higher or lower. You can see both of them in the shot, and the camera is hand held and shaky, this is to help create realism of them running. We can see Lewis closer and Simon getting away just infront, in the background we see the trees and bushes they are running past. We can hear the music that will be in the background throughout these shots, it is fast paced and to keep the chase feel. We will also be able to hear footsteps and heavy breathing.
Shot 4- This shot is off Lewis running we cannot see Simon in this shot, it is slighly low angle so we can see him as having more power. It is also another medium shot, We will still be hearing and seeing all of the above.
Shot 5- This shot will be similar to shot 3, we will see Lewis chasing Simon again and it will be a medium shot, our aim is to create speed of the chase using the shots. We will still be hearing the background noise, footsteps, Breathing and fast music throughout. We will also still see the background bushes, mud and trees.
Shot 6- In shot 6 we will see Lewis nearly catching up with Simon but then he starts pulling away again, it will still be a medium shot as we do not want to confuse the audience with all the different shot types from different angles at the moment. We will hear all of the above and see all of the same background scenery.
Shot 7- Shot 7 is very similar to shot 2, it will be in over the shoulder shot of Lewis looking at Simon as he is getting away and Lewis starts to speed up. We are looking down at Simon as Lewis is the more powerful person, the camera will still be handheld. It will be a medium distance to long shot for this shot as they is a fair distance between the two running. We will hear even heavier breathing as they are getting even more tired from running. The fast music will still be playing.

Tuesday, 15 December 2009

Storyboard of Opening Sequence Part 2


Shot 13











Shot 14











Shot 15













Shot 16














Shot 17











Shot 18













Shot 19











Shot 20













Shot 21





Shot 22
Shot 23
Shot 24
Shot 25
Shot 26

Storyboard of Opening Sequence

These are my drawings of our storyboard.


Shot 1










Shot 2













Shot 3













Shot 4













Shot 5













Shot 6













Shot 7












Shot 8













Shot 9












Shot 10













Shot 11






Shot 12

Ratings for Action Genre

After finding out our target audience we will rate our opening sequence depending on what the results are.
I think that our opening sequence will either be a 12 or 15.




Media Work Diary

15th December

Today I looked at audience profiles to try and find out our target audience. We made a questionnare and looked at films of a similar genre. We also chose our final script for our opening sequence.

Audience Profiles Evaluation

In my opinion i think that the target audience for Action films is mostly males but people ages 15-24. Most films have predicted that this is the age and gender that will go most.

To find out if this is true I will give my questionnare to people of different ages and genders and see whether this matches my opinion

Media Questionnaire


This is our questionnaire to find out what ages and gender like action films.






Market Research-Audience profiles

This is an auidence profile for Terminator Salvation.
They predicited more males will go to this film and people aged 15-24

Market Data-Audience Profiles

This is an example of an audience profile for a film which is similar to our genre.


Bourne Films



They predicted that more males than females would go and would be there target audience amd between the ages of 15-24.

Final Choice of script

For our final choice of script we have chosen script 3. We think this would suit our opening sequence well becuase it will leave our opening at a liff hanger.
We may alter the script at the time. We will use this as a base for our script

Possible Script 3

This is a possible conversation during the chase scene.

Lewis: Hello, I'am after him
Voice over: Ok I'll be there in 5, remember we need him alive
Lewis: I'll try!
(This is a possible conversation at the end)
Sound effect gun shot
Sound effect phone rings
Lewis: Hello?
Voiceover: Got him?
Lewis: He was a dead end
Voiceover: We still neeed him, he has infomation
Lewis: Not anymore

Monday, 14 December 2009

Possible Script for our Opening sequence 2

We have other ideas for our opening sequence. We may have script in our film depending on whether it will sound right and make our film more realistic.

One of our other ideas is having Lewis talking to the person who he works for on a black screen.

Voice Over: Have you got him?
Lewis: Yeah i have got him
Voice Over: Ok, good. Bring him in.
Lewis: Dead or Alive

Then finish our opening sequence at that.

Or we could have-

Conversation at the start (headset)
Lewis:I'm after him
Voice Over: We need him alive
Lewis: hmph

Images and Videos of Location Evaluation

This is my evaluation of the images and videos I took of the location.
I think that they have given a rough idea of what the loaction looks like and I think they are going to help us with our planning. They will help us plan:
  • Storyboard
  • Order of shots
  • Timing.

These are very important as we only have 2 minutes to work with.

The images have also given us an idea of where abouts in the location to film, eg. Long path way leading to lake and platform overlooking the lake.

Media Work Diary

14 December

I went to the location of where we are filming and took pictures and videos. This will help us plan our order of shots and storyboard, it also shows our planning of what the location looks like.

Sunday, 13 December 2009

Another Video of the lake

This is another video of the lake, we would like to maybe have Simon throw the piece of paper into the lake standing on the platform over the lake.

This may be where Simon throws the piece of paper into the lake.

Video of Location- Lake

This is a video of where would like to film the lake clip. We would have to make sure we do not get the houses in the background so it will be more realistic.

More Video's of Location

This is another video of the location.

For this part of the location we would like to film Lewis looking one way and Simon running the other and then Lewis runs after him. We will follow the direction of where Lewis is looking with the camera.

Videos of Location

This is a video of the location we would like to film, we would like to have it abit darker than it was when we filmed this. This is also where the chase scene will take place.

More Images of Lake





These are more images of the Lake, We would like to try and experiment with the camera and maybe have a reflection of them chasing each other in the water, this will be hard to do and may not work, if we want to do this we will have to make sure we do not get the houses in the background and the reflection of me holding the camera.

Images of our Location of filming-Lake





These are images of the lake where we would like to film. We took afew shots of the lake from different angles so we can choose where abouts we would like to film.

More images of our Location.



These are some more images of where the chase scene will be.
The top image we would like to see Simon running along the bridge bit and Lewis running where the image is being taken. If we do add this it can be quite effective.

More Images of our Location

This is what the filming would look like from Lewis OTS shot. Simon would be running just infront of him.

More Images of our Location


These are images of in between where the chase scenes will be happening. The above picture may be where Simon chucks his bag.

Images of our location of filming




This is our first image of where we are filming, this is the tree we would like to use. This is the start of the path we are filming, what we would like to do is have the tree covering the left part of the camera view and see Lewis and Simon running past (Lewis and Toby demonstrate). This will be our first shot we may have an establishing shot just before.

Wednesday, 9 December 2009

James Bond- Casino Royale Research

The reason I have chosen Casino Royale as a film to research because, it is very similar to our genre of our film and also has a chase scene right at the start of the film. After analysing this film it will hopefully give me ideas to share with the group for our last time at filming.

Opening 2 minutes- Conversation 1

The film starts with the producers appearing on screen, the next shot is in black and white, a car drives up to a big building and parks outside, it is a medium shot and is slightly looking up, the shot is setting the scene. The next thing in the shot we see is white text on the left hand side saying Prague, Czech Republic, this tells the audience where the scene is. We can hear a slight crackling noise and the sound of the car pulling up. The next shot is of an older man wearing a hat, there is a high angle shot of the man which shows that he is important. He is getting out the car, The shot is nearly a close up as most of the mans face is covering the screen. The next shot is of the elevator taking the man up. We then have another shot of him in the elevator, quite close up, we can hear the sound of the elevator going up. The next shot we see is off the number in the elevator of what floor he is going to. Floor number 3 then 4 and then 5, the screen is still black and white. The next shot is of the man walking along a path in the building, it is still a medium shot and the camera slowly follows him. We can hear footsteps, the next shot is off a door which the man then opens and walks into. We then see him walk in the room and walk very quickly into the middle of it. The next shot is of the man noticing something wrong, The camera then changes to a shot of Daniel Craig ( Who plays James Bond) sitting in a chair. We hear him start talking to him and the man looks worried. Its an over the shoulder shot looking at Daniel Craig, The next shot is a medium shot of him looking at the other man and as the camera is at a low angle, looking up at him, it makes Daniel Craig look like he has more power. We also then see a shot of the other man but he has looks like he has power still because of the angle of the camera. The next shot is a two shot of the two characters, at a level angle. The rule of thirds is used as Daniel Craig is on the left and the other man is on the right, so nothing in the shot is dead center. The older man starts walking over to James Bond. Tense, high pitched music starts to create an eerie atmosphere. The next shot is of the older man sitting on a chair and reaching into a drawer and a gun is sitting in it. It is a high angle shot looking at the gun. The next shot is a medium shot of the older man fiddling with his gloves, we can still hear the tense music. The next shot is off both of them a two shot. They are both still having there conversation. Then the same shot again of the older man, sitting on the chair. The next few shots are very quick as we see a flashback of James Bond beating a man up in the bathroom, The shots are quick to show him beating the man up from all angles and to create a sense of action and fighting.
This is what happens in the opening two minutes of this film, not alot happens but quite alot of different shots were used. This will help me with time management for the parts in our opening sequence where I am on a train, these will be slow so the audience can see whats happening and follow easily. The chase scene shot will be similar to the fighting sequence from this opening two minutes.

James Bond- Casino Royale Conversation 2

The opening for this conversation scene that i wanted to analyse starts with a young boy running along, it is a medium shot and we can see quite alot of background, We can hear rain falling and can see it, we also can hear people talking and alot of background noise. We then see titles appear, white font on the left like the first titles we saw, Mbale, Uganda. This has now set the scene for the audience, The camera then pans round and zooms forward like we are moving with it. We then see two men one in army uniform and the other in a smart suit. The man in the army clothes is playing pin ball and the other man is checking his watch. We then see the young boy we were following before reach the two men and gave them some drinks. It is still a medium shot and we can still hear rain and background noise. We then see the two men walking over to a sofa and sitting down on it with there drinks of coke. The shot is high angle looking down on the man wearing army uniform, the uniform is like khaki and camouflage. The next shot is of the young boy playing on the ping ball machine. We then have shots of the two men having a conversation, we see one man talking, then the other etc, this is a useful way of showing a conversation to the audience easily without confusion to what is happening. The next shot is of a army truck driving towards the camera and men in army uniform walking past naturally like the camera did not exist, We can also see rain and people with guns walking around in the background. We then have a low angle of the trucks driving in and then the next shot is of a man getting out the car, it is a close up of the car door. We can hear the noises of cars driving, muddy paths, rain and people talking, this helps to keep the realism.

James Bond- Casino Royale Chase

The opening for the chase scene starts with a long shot, birds eye view shot of a large group of people shouting standing in a circle. Titles appear at the same time, Saying Madagascar which has set the scene for the audience, as in the film there is alot of location change. The next shot is a medium shot of some men shouting and holding drink in there hands, the next shot after that is off a snake hissing , we can hear hissing and shouting. The next shot we see is of a ferret showing its teeth, The men are watching the animals fight for fun. The men have put bets on what animal they think will win, the next shot we see is of more men shouting and waving money in the air. The next shot is of the snake lunging at the ferret and the men shouting even more. We then see some more medium shots of more men watching the fight. We then see a man taking a swig of his drink and standing out from the crowd, the background of this shot goes out of focus as we see a man closer up come into focus. We then hear him start talking. The next shot is of Daniel Craig looking out to the group of men standing in the distance in the shadows, it is long shot of him and is slightly looking up at him. We then hear the two men start having a conversation from there headsets about the man we saw drinking. The next shot is a long shot of the animals again and the men yelling around them. The next shot if of the snake lunging for the ferret again but the ferret grabs the snake, which makes the men shout more again. The next shot is a medium shot with no angle of the man we saw drinking, he receives a text and we hear it beep, then we see him reaching into his pocket to get his phone out. The next shot is a close up of his phone and it says new message, he opens it and it says ELLIPSIS in capitals. The next shot is of him start making a move, then we see a medium shot of the man that is helping James Bond speak to his headset saying he is on the move, we can still hear men shouting. The next shot is an even further away shot of the man on the headset still talking to him. In the background we see trees and men pushing and shouting to try and see the animals fighting. The man then says he is heading straight for me, the next shot is of Daniel Craig saying stop touching your ear, the shot is quite close up to his face, the next shot is then of the man touching his ear on the headset saying sorry. Then it goes back to Daniel Craig who says put your hand down. He cannot do this in time as the man they are watching notices him with his hand to his ear, the shot is of his face, his facial expression angry. There are no angles being used for this shot. The shot is slightly over the shoulder as we can see the man with his hand to his ear slightly on the right. We then see the man quickly turn round and start running, the next shot after that is of the man on the headset looking worried and starts to run after him. He gets his gun out and we find that the man who is helping him is called Carter. As he is running through the crowd with his gun out the background goes out of focus and we see Daniel Craig start talking. He tells him to put the gun away if he wants to stay alive, the shot of Daniel Craig a low angle shot is used so we are looking up at him to show that he has power. The next shot is of the man he is chasing jumping into the center of the ring where the animals are fighting and the we see the snake hissing. The next shot is of Carter trying to do the same, but he falls into the pit and presses the gun trigger. He lands on his back and we start seeing the crowds yelling and start running away. The next few shots are quick and a handheld camera is used. We see the man who is being chased running through the pit pushing and shoving people out the way. After afew of those similar shots we then see him reaching the end of the pit to climb out. The shot then pans upwards and we see Daniel Craig standing on higher ground, this is still showing he has more power as he is higher up. A medium shot is used as we can see most of his body, he then quickly turns around to start running. Tense music starts as the chase between Daniel Craig and the other man begins. The next shot is of the man being chased running through a market. A medium shot is used and we can see food stalls and civilians walking around in the background, we can hear the tense music and the sounds of busy people around the market. The man then pushes one man out the way into the stall which shows that he is in a hurry to get away. The next shot is a birds eye view of the market and we can see the man running along the bottom of the screen and we can see Daniel Craig on the roofs of the market taking a shortcut to catch the man, the market looks poor and looks more like ruins. We can also see in this shot trees and more people. Continuity is used well here as we can see Daniel Craig jumping of the roof from where he last was from the birds eye view shot. The shot we see now is of Daniel Craig reaching the floor and in the front of the screen the man being chased sprinting across. As the man being chased goes out of shot, we then see Daniel Craig coming around the corner. Next we see the man being chased running through bushes and dirt clouds in the background, the man runs until he reaches an old car, he holds onto the roof and swings himself through as the car has no doors. The shot is a low angle shot and as he reaches the floor more dirt flies up in the screen, we then see Daniel Craig run around the outside of the car. We have a medium shot as we follow him running. The next shot is handheld as we can see the man being chased closer up and Daniel Craig just behind as they run through bushes. We then have a shot from the side of them running, still handheld and through the bushes. More similar shots are used to create tension through the bushes, the shots are quick to create speed. We then have a point of view shot of the man being chased, we see bushes in front until he reaches a wire fence. The next shot is from above slightly as we see him climbing the fence. He pushes himself over and leaps in the air, as he lands we then see him running through sand that is pouring from above. The next shot is of Daniel Craig going over backwards over the fence and landing on a pile of sand, we then see him catching his breath as he crouches down and watches the man running, the shot we then see is of the man being chased from behind and we can see that they have reached a building site. There is dust everywhere and big machines in the background. We can still hear tense music and the heavy breaths of the men running. As the man running goes out of focus a big truck comes into focus and we then see a shot of Daniel Craig getting up and running to the truck. The next shot is of the man leaping a red and white long pole and a medium shot is used. In the chase scene very simple shots have been used to keep the audience interested and not confused to who is who and where they are in the chase, as the shots are quick. We then have a more establishing shot of the building site as we see towers of building structures and men working in the background. The camera then pans down and we see the man running past the screen. An interesting shot is used next as we see some building poles and we are looking through them and we can see the man on the other side running. He then hides behind the poles to catch his breath and then reach into his pocket to get a gun out. The next shot is of us looking at him but we cannot see him yet as there are poles in the way and he slowly appears above them, We then see him start looking around, the man has scars all over his face and is wearing dirty casual clothes, He is sweaty and tired. We then have a point of view shot of him looking around for his chaser. We then have a close up of his face again looking confused to where his opponent has gone. We then start to hear crashing noises and he raises his gun, we then see a shot of the truck we saw before crashing through a building and people scattering around it. The next shot is of it from its side as we see it crashing its way through fences on the building site coming towards the man now with his gun out. He then starts shooting and we have a close up of this, we can hear the sound of the vehicle driving and the sound of the bullet firing and hitting glass. The next shot is a close up of Daniel Craig through the glass driving and we can see bullet holes appearing around him on the glass.

I watched this chase scene and decided to write about it because it is very similar to our chase scene and i wanted to get more ideas from it, it is similar to ours because it involves a chase scene and a gun.
I have found that we have been looking at the wrong type of music and all we need is something simple but tense, I have also found that our costumes will be fine as theirs are pretty simple, but they are wearing less as they are in a hot country.
Here are some screen shots/grabs of the film:


To view the images bigger click on them and then press back to go back to the blog.

Media Work Diary

We looked at opening credits and how effective they are. We also thought about adding to our storyboard and thinking about adding more scenes

Opening Credits Ideas

We would like to have opening credits in our work to show that we can make them.

Idea 1- We would like to have the name of the actors and director to appear on the screen when the film is actually playing, so over the top of the image. This would look really effective if we could get it on when they appear on screen.

Idea 2- We would like to have the credits appear at the end of the sequence, when all the filming has finished. So that we can have a voice over and the credits appearing. We think this will look really good if we can make it well.

Interesting Opening Credits

Tuesday, 8 December 2009

The Italian Job- Research

I have decided to look at The Italian Job, becuase it is an action genre. There is also a particular chase scene that I wanted to look at. This chase scene does not involve running, it invloves cars. It is a car chase scene, I wanted to look at the difference between a chase on foot and chase between vehicles.

Car Chase

The chase scene starts after they have robbed the bank, they are underground. They are in Los Angeles which it tells you at the beginning of the film so the location is set.

The first shot we see is of the three mini's underground they start driving away and then two motorbikes come up behind them to catch them. The next shot is in a tunnel underground, it is from behind we see the first mini drive past in the tube, then the second and then the thrid. Closely followed by the motorbikes, We see water splashing as they drive through it and we can hear cars, water and atmospheric music starts. We then have a two shot of two of the the characters in one of the cars, then a close up of the man driving that car, he notices that the motorbikes are chasing them, He then says on his headset to one of the other men driving that they are on there tail, and then we see a shot of the other man driving the next mini looking into his mirror and then the woman in the last car who is also with them looking in her mirror. The next shot we see after that is of the two motorbikes driving towards the camera, then we have a close up of one of the man on the bikes, we can hear him talking aswell on a headset, the background is moving quickly and the man is still. The next shot after that is of a man who is working with the men on the motorbikes in a helicopter talking back to the man on the motorbike, like Casino Royale, the shots are still quick to create a sense of speed and to show the action. The shot of the man is a close up, We then have another shot of the mini's, a medium shot and we can see them from the front and they are driving towards the camera, we can see water falling onto the cars and can see the motorbikes in the far distance. We can still hear the noise of the vehicles and the noise of water and the music. We then have a closer up shot of the cars and then it quickly changes to a close up of the car with the two men in it, the window wipers of the car wipe the water away and we can see the men easier, they have a determined facial expression. We then have a shot from slightly to the right of the motorbikes and water splashing. He then starts shooting at the cars and the next shot is of the two men being shot at, its a close up and a two shot of them in the car. We then have a birds eye view of the car at the back, swerving. The next shot is of the men in the car again but its a close up of the man driving, he is trying to control the car. We then have a shot from infront the car again and then we see the car move to the side and the first motorbike appear behind, still shooting at the back of the car, We then have an over the shoulder shot of the man on the bike shooting at the back of the car still. We can hear the sounds of the cars, water and the gun firing. We then have a close up of a bullet hole appearing on the back of the car. Then a low angle shot of the bike driving along. The car at the back then knocks the man on the motorbike with the gun off his bike and we then see a shot of the bike flipping and landing to the floor, the rider right next to it. We then have a shot of the woman and the man who knocked the guy of his bike turning around to see what happened. The next shot is a long shot from infront of the bike again, we see the one on the floor and the last bike swerve to move out the way and drive past it.


The two films are quite similar with the shots they use for the action. They also have similar music to create tension. There costumes they use in this film are quite similar to the ones we have chosen for our opening two minutes.
Overall, The films I chose to look at are quite good and useful for me to research.

Here are some screen shots/grabs from these films:




MindMap of our Idea

To view this clearer click on the image
This is a mindmap of our idea's for the genre action.
I have mentioned points about camera angles, shots, props, costume, location, make-up mise-en-scene and music. This is all relevant to our work.
This is what we have so far for our idea.
Read Film Treatment or Order of shots for outline of our Idea.