Research Task 1

Before you develop your ideas too far you need to know about your competition.

Research, source and analyse at least three film opening sequences of your choice. They should be from different genres. If you are currently stuck for an idea you can use this task to give you inspiration and help you find a genre.

• Your analysis should be in depth and aim to avaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the opening sequence.
• You should include a separate post on why you think opening sequences are important generally. What is the purpose of a good openning sequence?

Check the blog expectations grid for other ideas that you can work on. There is always something for you to do!

Blog Expectations

G321 Blog Expectations from lpgsmedia

The above grid shows the sorts of information that we would expect to see on your blog as the weeks progress.

Red - Barely Acceptable

Amber - Fair

Green - Good (But not exceptional)

Remember, you are rewarded for your ideas so we would expect you to experiment above and beyond the attached parameters.

Treat this as a competition. You should aim to have more, diverse posts than any of the other groups. There may be a prize for the AS group who has the most posts, or the most creative. (Alongside the bragging rights and grade of course)

25 Word Pitch

You are required to write a pitching sentence in 25 words. 

THATS ONLY 25 WORDS

Here is an example for Wonka.

"Everyone wants the secrets of the reclusive Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, but only one courageous boy will get them during a wild and hilarious adventure."

Now its your turn!

BE CREATIVE

Treatment

For your film opening we will need a treatment for the story, which sells the story and explains the context of the opening sequence.

What Is a Treatment?

A treatment is a two to five page document that tells the whole story focusing on the highlights. 

How To Write a Treatment

This two to five page document should read like a short story and be written in the present tense. It should present the entire story including the ending, and use some key scenes and dialogue from the screenplay it is based on.

What Should Be in the Treatment?

1. A Working title
2. The writer's name and contact information
3. A short logline
4. Introduction to key characters
5. Who, what, when, why and where.
6. Act 1 in one to three paragraphs. Set the scene, dramatize the main conflicts.
7. Act 2 in two to six paragraphs. Should dramatize how the conflicts introduced in Act 1 lead to a crisis.
8. Act 3 in one to three paragraphs. Dramatize the final conflict and resolution.

The Three Act Structure

Act 1, called the Set-up, The situation and characters and conflict are introduced. This classically is 30 minutes long. 

Act 2, called The Conflict, often an hour long, is where the conflict begins and expands until it reaches a crisis. 

Act 3, called The Resolution, the conflict rises to one more crisis and then is resolved.

Logline example

And Then Came Love is a character-driven romantic comedy about a high-powered Manhattan single mom who opens Pandora's box when she seeks out the anonymous sperm donor father of her young son.

TREATMENT EXAMPLE HERE

BE CREATIVE

Production Context

You will need to think about what production company your film is 'made' by...

Do you create your own logo and make it a back to basics 'Indie' film?

Do you go with an existing independent studio? 

Do you try to make a blockbuster hollywood style opening? Like Warner? 

For all these questions you will need to research and find what fits your idea best. You will need to say how the choice of production company will effect the style and feel of your opening sequence.

BE CREATIVE

What is an Opening Sequence?

Using your research to date, define what an opening sequence of a film is and looks like. 

You should look at...

Structure
Presentation of titles 
Order and importance of titles
Narrative structure
Genre codes
Conventions (& also unconventional)
Purpose

The ultimate question here is...

What does a typical opening sequence look like?

BE CREATIVE

Influences

Influences

Having looked at various opening sequences of your choice, it is crucial that you find additional sources of influences that are more interesting/ personalised for you. At this stage, you are looking to focus on:

(1) influences in terms of genre

(2) influences in terms of opening structure (i.e. title sequence, enigmatic sequence)

(3) influences in terms of style/'look' (e.g. camera shots, titles)

Again, these should be shown on your blog with visual elements included (stills from the opening of the film or at least posters). Discuss why the images, videos, songs, influence you and how you might incorporate the ideas in to your own projects. Again, find interesting ways of presenting this post. 

Moodboards

For your opening sequence, the precise storyline is not assessed. However, a poor storyline often will make it a struggle for you to obtain the higher marks in your production.

While we will focus on more specific aspects of storyline next week, one way to assist the process of coming up with a suitable story is to do a mood board.

A mood board is a poster that consists of images, bits of text, objects or anything else that may convey ideas of design for a project. It is used by many people within different creative occupations in order to begin to get ideas of the tone and look that they wish to bring into their projects.

You will need to design some kind of mood board in order to ensure that your story ideas are not just guided by a one-sentence story but also informed by a visual style you want to incorporate. Each group member should do this separately to allow for an exchange of ideas. Below are two examples of the kind of thing we are xpecting to see. You can experiment with ways of presenting your storyboard. Interactive storyboards using prezi or even video will show that you are thinking more creatively.