Children's Film Opening Sequence Evaluation Questions

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
*Our genre of film is fantasy therefore we used techniques such as animation and a make believe story line to create the element of fantasy in our opening sequence.

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
*Overall our opening sequence did not really represent any particular social groups as we only had one person in the film. We did show the a stereotypical character of a granny reading a story book for children sitting in a chair.

3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
*A cinema would distribute our opening to a children's film because it is a typical children's film and does not show anything offensive or controversial. It would be suitable for all audiences and we think it shows the type of thing children would find entertaining.

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
*Our media product is aimed at children aged 2-7years. It is easy to understand and is a child friendly story line.

5. How did you attract/ address your audience?
*We used the fantasy element at the very beginning of the film where the books moved by themselves which would capture a child's imagination. It would also make them want to continue watching where they would see a children's story book which would confirm that this was going to be a children's film.

6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
*We have learnt a lot about how to edit in final cut express and how to make music using garage band. We also had a lot of practice using film cameras and stop motion.

7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
*We feel we have learnt a lot about different types of editing and various ways in which to speed up or slow down clips in order to make them run smoothly. We have become more confident when using various editing programmes and feel we have progressed a lot from our preliminary task.

final film

Review of filming process

1.Throughout the process of making our children's film we enjoyed the different tasks we got to do and had many successes in making our film. But we also faced many hurdles to over come. Such as; when we forgot where we had saved the different pieces of filming and stills and had to spend a while finding them again. Locations where we wanted to film were unavailable therefore we had to make a "make-shift" set in another location to film our opening sequence. This proved to be difficult and time consuming, but we were pleased with the overall sequence. Success' that we had with making the children's film were; we are pleased with how our film fitted together and how the two different types of filming came together and flowed on from one another. Also we all had the correct props that we needed to use and they worked well with our genre of filming.

2.When planning our film we discussed the different editing options and came to the conclusion that we could use stop motion filming, normal filming and stills and edit them all together on final cut express. These were good types of filming to use for our story line of our film. Once we had finished filming and uploaded our sequences, we decided to speed up the amount of time for each still so that they flowed together. We also slowed down our normal filming pieces to create more emphasis on each scene. We discussed together which types of music would go best with our film, we looked on youtube for inspiration, and then put the sound in at the end of editing process.

3. The only thing left to do on our opening sequence is to place in the opening credits and the title of the film. We are going to do this once we have finished the sound editing.

Overall we are very pleased with how our opening of a children's film ha turned out. We feel we have achieved our aims and managed to do a lot of work in a short period of time. We worked well together as a group and cooperated well when making decisions. We are all happy with the finished product, and have enjoyed this task.

we like ...

0http://01childrensfilm09.blogspot.com/2009/12/our-completed-project.html

We liked this clip because it was very entertaining. It was a very imaginative idea which captured the audiences attention. The genre was clearly comedy as it made us laugh. The different techniques which were used such as camera angles and diegetic sound (music) were very successful and created the atmosphere of the piece. We thought the film was edited well as it went smoothly and was easy to watch and understand. The film was quite long and we thought they did well to make it in the time period they had.

Schedule for filming

Monday: Library

Tuesday: Still Shots in media room

Friday: Editing and extra filming : Library and media room

Costumes and Props

 Cards to explain children's story

Plasticine to make the family of worms

The props and costumes that we are going to use in our children's film are:

*Story book
*Plasticine
*Cardboard tree
*Cardboard kite
*Fishing wire
*Cards with dialogue
*Cocktail sticks
*Granny wig
*Glasses
*Scarf

Story boarding

Planning out our film on a story board before we started filming helped us to see what each scene looked like and decide what was best to put in it. It helped us make decisions on what ideas were good and what ideas wouldn't work. 

 

 Complete storyboard

Section of storyboard

Still Shots

 Location: Corner in library

 Location: Library

 Props: Books

 Location: Entrance to college

 Location: Entrance to carpark

 Location : "              "

 Location: Field

 Locations: Field

 Written Planning

 Story scenes: Skipping

 Story scene: Skipping

 Story Scene: Crying

We took still shots of possible settings that we could shoot our children's film in to see how it looked.

We took location pictures of:
- The library
- A corner in the library
- The entrance of the college
- The field
- A pathway

Pictures of props we took were:
- Books

SCRIPTING

OPENING: INT
*Granny walks into library (credits played)
*Books still shots moving out of shelves
*Book that is to be read floats out of shelf and floats in the air
*Granny picks it out of the air
*Sits down on chair and starts to read the book.
*Slowly zooming in shot of book page
*Story becomes eye stop motion pictures of toys acting out the story

STOP MOTION: INT
1.Baby worm playing with a kite
2.Kite flies into a tree
3.Baby worm cries
4.Baby worm decides to climb tree
5.Baby worm gets stuck in the tree
6.......(cliff hanger ending) WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO BABY WORM!!??

Initial Ideas: Childrens film

* Story time
* Library
* Book - fading into animation
* Old granny & child
* Granny costumes: wig, make up
* Zooming camera shots
* Animation of animals, finger puppets, play-doe/ clay , toys, Lego
* Story line: zoo animals and evil mr crocky PG

Bullying: PG
* Walking into college:
* Glasses (proper geeky)
* Group of bullies
* Pushed over. Pushed about.
* Fades into black

Still images: U
* Toys
* Emotions: Shot of happy face, clip of someone skipping
* Shot of sad face, clip of someone crying

Amar and Arron's Talk

"Preparation is key"
1. Script writing

2. Story boarding
3.Test shooting
4.Shooting
5.Editing
These are all creative layers in the film which are very important elements to include.

1.Script writing: write down all ideas within our group and put them on the blog
- In the script you should have actions and instructions of the characters, including emotions and dialogue. But no camera work.

2. Walk through: Act out your script so you can find any flaws or complications. It is best to do this on the chosen location.
- Finding out potential successes and failures of the project

3. Location Recce: You must always do a location recce
- Find out locations and diagnose any problems.
-Make notes  on what you see or hear (traffic, etc)
- Photographs

4. Story boards: Take a variety of frame angles and shot types.
-Print pictures for filming
- Google earth for birds eye view shots

5: Shot list: Always have a shot list.
-Annotate your script

6. Test Shots: Get familiar with your location
- get use to your equiptment
-Identify props/costume needed
- Helps the editing process

7. Shooting Schedule: Organise your shooting day/night/times/location
- Identify any restrictions you may have

The Classification System : 15

A certificate of 15 on a film indicates that no child under the age of 15 is permitted to watch a film under this classification.

- No discriminatory behaviour of language should be used.
- Drug taking may be shown, but the promotion of it is not allowed
- Dangerous use of substances such as aerosols should not be shown
- Strong threatening behaviour should not be shown
- Dangerous behaviour e.g hanging, suicide, self harm should not be shown and dwelled on in detail
- There may be use of bad language, but this should not be used frequently throughout the film
- Violence may be strong but dwelling on injury or infliction of pain is not permitted

The Classificaion Certificate '18' & 'R18'

'18' rated films are only suitable for young adults and above. No one younger than the age of 18 are allowed too see this certificate film i a cinema.

The material in an '18' rated film is  most likely too permit most things, such as sex, drugs and violence.

'R18' is mainly given too licensed sex shops. No person under the age of 18 can see or purchase an 'R18' rated film.

The Classification Certificate '12' & '12A'

12 and 12A, indicates that children below the age of 12 should not see the film unless the childrens parents feel that the film will not affect their children.

Sex and drugs may be discreetly portrayed but not to be shown on the film shot.
Violence is allowed but detail should not be seen.  

The Classification System : U

A film which is under the classification of a U certificate is unable to contain and show elements such as:

- It should be suitable for the viewing of children four years and over.
- It should be set within a positive framework and shouldn't show any clips of violence, threat or horror.
- There should be no discrimination, or bad language.
- There should be no reference to drugs
- Scary sequences should be mild, to refrain from causing children to suffer from anxiety
- No potential bad/dangerous behaviour, so there is no chance that a child could copy this behaviour
- Infrequent use of very mild bad language
- Occasional nudity, with no sexual content

The Classification System 'PG'

A PG, parental guidance, is a certificate that is general viewing but the film may contain some scenes that are unsuitable for young children.

Children of any age can watch the film rated  PG however the parents are advised to think about if some scenes may upset young/sensitive children.

There should be no sexual or drug references in the film, and only to have mild bad language.

Youtube examples of 3 genres

ACTION: PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN

The opening shot of Pirates of the Caribbean was an extreme  long shot of the boat in the middle of the sea. Whilst zooming in on the boat non-diegetic music is being played which is eerie and deep. This creates a mysterious, tense atmosphere. Other non-diegetic sounds such as creaking and squeaking are played to create the sense of an old boat sailing out to sea for many years. This sets the tone of a dark and dreary atmosphere at the beginning of the film. A zooming shot is then shown, zooming in on a little girl singing, this is diegetic sound. Over the shoulder shots are also used when a conversation begins between two pirates on the boat. Meise en Scene is used in this scene as period clothing is worn by the characters; the colours of royal reds symbolise the importance and wealth of the pirates who are in control.

Sleeping Beauty: Fantasy

Sleeping beauty is a fairy tale film which falls into fantasy.
It has conventions of good vs evil, & princes and princesses. It opens up as a story book which makes it very child friendly.
It also includes magic, with the evil lady who puts a curse on sleeping beauty & the three fairy's.
It is also an rescue as the prince has too give sleeping beauty the stereotypical kiss before midnight.

Wallace and Gromit : Comedy

The opening shot of Wallace and Gromit was a long shot which introduced the characters. There was non diegetic music being played which was the well known wallace and gromit theme tune. This music then turns scary when the title appears on the screen. This music then sets the scene. Over the shoulder shots were used when a conversation was taking place between the characters. More non diegetic music was used when there were more dramatic parts. This was emphasised by close ups of the characters faces to show their reactions and emotions. Meise en scene props were used such as dog toys for one of the characters.

Sleeping Beauty

Sleeping beauty is a fairy tale film which falls into fantasy.
It has conventions of good vs evil, & princes and princesses. It opens up as a story book which makes it very child friendly.
It also includes magic, with the evil lady who puts a curse on sleeping beauty & the three fairy's.
It is also an rescue as the prince has too give sleeping beauty the stereotypical kiss before midnight.

Conventions of Childrens Genre- Fantasy, Comedy & Action.

Conventions-

Fantasy:
Mythical creatures, magic, love interest, fairy tales, animals. Princes & Princesses. Good vs evil.
Fantasy can be very fairy tale based and can be based on a story such as Sleeping Beauty etc. Also, many can included mythical creatures and talking animals.

Comedy:
Comedy is very simple and silly as it is children genre. It is very limited and sometimes can use props and characters like clowns etc.

Action:
Action for a childrens film is very limited, as it cannot use much violence. However it can be fast paced and exciting. It always has god vs evil (Emperor Zurge (Toy Story)) and an adventure for something magical or a rescue.

Majority of childrens film have a type of adventure or rescue, and a good s evil.

Genre's for childrens films

Genre's for childrens films:

- Comedy: Wallace and Gromit, Tangled

- Science fictions: The Water Horse,

- Fiction: Harry Potter, Cat in the Hat

- Fantasy: Enchanted, Bridge to Terabithia

- Action: Transformers, Pirates of the Caribbean

- Adventure: Toy Story 1, Toy story 2, toy story 3

- Musicals: Mary Poppins, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

childrens film opening sequences LION KING

At the opening of the sequence non-diegetic African music is played which sets the mood, scene and location of the film. The sun is rinsing in this part of the sequence which is symbolising start of a new day, giving it a melo tone. the The pace of the film is set by the way that the animals and walking and the pace of the music. The relationships between the characters is shown when they are all walking in unison with each other. The importance of the main character is shown when he is held up in front of everyone, and focused on by all the other animals. A panning shot is used when this happens which shows the scale of how many animals came to see him. Power of the lions is shown by them being on a raised platform compared with the rest of the animal kingdom. The song which is used is very iconic to the film, therefore when you hear this song you know what film it is.

childrens film opening sequences WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE

At the beginning of this sequence children's drawings are shown over the top of the credits which sets the genre as a children's film. Non-diegetic music is the first thing you hear and this sets the tone; the music sounded slightly eerie, which suggested uncertainty of what you were going to see during the film. The music cut out while the action began and then started again at the end of this part. Sharp camera angles with fast movement were used during the action part. The clothes the characters were wearing established the time period straight away as being quite recent. The way one of the characters was wearing bright clothes against the white snow showed that he was probably going to be the main character and he also looked isolated. The pace kept changing throughout this sequence and this added to the uncertainty about what was going to happen. When more action started to happen there were shots from over the characters shoulders and from their point of view. A close up of a characters face at the end of this sequence while he was showing emotion created tension and set the mood.

Spy Kids

At the start of the opening sequence there was an aerial shot of a cliff and sea, then travels by zooming to a small spanish chalet, to an open window with a young girl. This instantly tells the audience that she is a main character.
Through out the entire opening sequence there was non diegetic music, it had a spanish twist too it telling the audience that there is a spanish influence. We soon find out that it is because there is a spanish background too the family.
The other main character is shown by putting what wart killer on his fingers, and brightly coloured plasters, showing his child like behavior. If you think about the character and not the film the plasters symbolize him.
We then see the mother asking her children if they have done basic needs before bed (Brushing teeth). The young girl asks for a bed time story which is another stereotypical shown of child like behavior.
The mother then tells a story and the frame fades into a flash back following the story. This continues with the mothers voice becoming a voice over, which is non diegetic. This flashback/story gives the audience the background and history too the rest of the plot. The final main character was introduced in the flashback/story. Mise-en-scene shows props which allows the viewers too understand the film is about spy's.

childrens film opening sequences NANNY MCPHEE

Nanny Mc Phee
At the beginning of the sequence there was an extreme long shot which showed the setting and location. Throughout the opening sequence there was a non-diegetic narration which set the scene and introduced some of the characters. Mise en scene was used to set the time period using costumes and props. The diegetic dialogue within this sequence showed the relationships between characters in the film and the contrasts between their points of view. The dialogue which was used showed the genre of the film which was comedy, and the over the top actions also had this effect. Non-diegetic music set each scene and showed how dramatic it was going to be.

The cafe. Preliminary task