Filming

Now that I've started to film my project, I've tried to stay as close to the original story board as possible whilst making a few adjustments as this was only a rough guideline. Whilst I was filming I focused on two things:

• Camera angles
• Mise en scene

Camera angles

As I was filming I tried to get as many different shots as possible. This meant that I would re film the same scene around three times so that I could then look over them in the editing process. For example, I would try filming one of the shots as a wide angle shot, and then another shot as a close up so that I could then compare them both later.

One of the shots I got was the first shot of the film where it is a tracking shot of the road leading up to the house that it is being filmed in. For this shot I used a handles seaway so that there was more stability in the shot, But if this shot is not stable enough then ill either stabilize it in the editing process or re shoot this shot.

Mise en scene

The first shot that we see in the house there are photos all over the floor and the hall way looks a mess...

I set up the hall way to look like this so that it looked as though there was a struggle. This should also hopefully intrigue the audience and make them want to continue watching. I kicked up the carpet and though all of the frames on the floor, so that it was obvious that their was a recent struggle.

In the bedroom I put books all over the floor and bed, I also put out some note pads and laptops, the reason I did this was so that it would not only peak the audiences curiosity but also make it look like who ever was in that bed had been studying something. I also tried to make it look as though there was a struggle, I did this by having things like glasses, And books on the floor. I also but some fake blood on the floor and on one of the corners of the bed. I did this because it helped with presenting the idea that their was a struggle involved. i put fake blood onto the corner of the bed and the floor around that corner so that it was more obvious that their was a struggle here not long ago.

With the lighting in this shot I had to have the lamp on in order to show all of the things I had placed on the floor. I had to do this because it was important that the shutters were closed in the shot. The shutters had to be closed because the people are supposed to have been taken at night so it works better with the story if the shutters are closed.

Sound

The sound that I want to have in my film opening will be the sound effects that coincide with what is seen on the screen, along with an overlaying track of music that is used when needed. The music that I originally wanted to use was Time by Hans Zimmer. I wanted to use this track because I felt that the feel to it would have gone well with the intro to my film. There is also the fact that there are no lyrics. Because of this it makes it easier to focus more on what is happening on the screen. The music also starts off very slow, and then moves its way up slowly until it is slightly more hectic. I tried sending an email to Warner Bros asking there permission to use the song for my coursework, but they unfortunately didn't get back to me. So I will instead be using a track that has the same sort of emotional feel to it, only it is license and copyright free.

Costume

In my film opening, the character in focus is wearing angry bird pajamas. The reason that I chose this for costume is because it displays the character as innocent, which is something that I wanted to make a point of displaying in this character. The reason that I want to portray this character as innocent is so that the audience will feel sorry for him, and worry for him when the film gets more intense. This is because if the audience develops more of a connection with the main character because they are worrying for him, then it will make the film more gripping. I chose angry bird pajamas because it will also help to further develop the audiences idea of when this film is based.

Plotline

If I were to make the whole of my film rather than just the introduction, then my plot line would be: The parents of a child that have been taken hostage because one of them can bring people back from the dead, they only kidnap the parents and leave the child behind on its own. The people that kidnapped the the parents then discover that its neither of the parents that can bring people back from the dead, but the child that they left behind. The rest of the film is then following the story of both the child that is trying to not only survive on its own, but also stay away from the people trying to capture him, and the parents that are trying to survive and escape.

The Hunger Games film opening analysis

The very First thing that we as an audience are shown, are a brief description of the dystopian society that this film is based in. As my film should be more self explanatory than this i will not do be doing this even though my film is a very similar idea. Whilst this is being shown the theme music is playing in the background. This is what I want to do with my idents, only instead of having the theme music playing, I'm going to have the sound effects that will be playing in the actual film opening itself playing.

After the brief description of the dystopian society the characters are going to be based in, it then fades in to the title of "The Hunger Games" The effect of this title introduction is that it leaves the audience curious as to what is going to happen in the film. This is because of the fact that they showed their title after allowing the audience to become intrigued by the film. The music carries on as normal, only it starts to fade out, and then fade into the sound of the conversation between the first two people we see in the film.

In this first shot of the film, Stanley Tucci (Caesar Flickerman) Is the person in focus of the shot. The reason that he is the subject in focus is because he is the person being spoken to, So it allows us to see his reaction to what this other person is saying. Because the shot is taken from behind the shoulder of the speaker, we are able to establish a bare understanding of who it is that Caesar Flickerman is speaking to. The costumes that are seen in this shot are extremely obscene and unlike what we may see in our society today. This is something that the creators of the film would have had no control over. This is because these films were books before they were films, meaning that all of the costumes would have been pre-decided for them.

This shot is the same as the previous shot, only the person in focus is Wes Bently (Seneca crane). These shots continue back and forth until the audience has a strong enough understanding of what it is that these two characters are talking about.

The shot that follows this conversation is an establishing shot of District 12. As soon as this shot hits the screen we hear a scream of a child. This compliments the atmosphere that is clearly trying to be given off because of how well it accompanies what immediately meets the eye in this shot. The mise en scene in this shot shows us that this area is far more glum, unhygienic, and not as well kept, as where ever it was that the first shot was taking place. In the previous scene the two characters were talking about district 12. So by having "DISTRICT 12" displayed in the corner of the screen help[s to clarify the audiences understanding of there where abouts.

The next shot is then a tracking shot that moves up the back of Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence). This shot establishes that Katniss is the carer of the person clinging to her by showing her arms wrapped tightly around her.







Because the shot then tracks up her body to see who the characters are, it gives those of the audience that may have read the books and idea of what may be happening in the film, whilst simultaneously peaking the curiosity of those who are seeing this knowing nothing at all about the films.

This next shot allows us to clearly see the facial expression being displayed by Katniss. This shot also only has Katniss's face in focus with the dark blue and grey background blurred behind her. This is important because it works with the mise en scene in order to show that they do not really live in a very wealthy area.

The previous then slowly tracks down Katniss so that we can see the facial expression of Primrose Everdeen (Willow Shields). This is effective because the slow movement of the tracking shot in keeps with the current feel of the film so far.






One thing that I have noticed from this film opening that I would like to portray in my own film, is that the mise en scene needs to be effective in that it shows that this isn't based in reality, but instead based in a parallel dystopian society.

Story Board

I've had a change of mind recently and have now decided to stick to the same idea of having the camera stay with one child, only instead of having it based around the time of WW2, i'm going to have it based during the occurrence of a WW3. This not only gives me the freedom of doing what ever i want to as I don't have to base it on a real even, and it also gives me the chance to make a film that is more likely to succeed in the modern industry.