Presentation (Pitch)

Orphange PItch 

• We decided that we were going to change the name of our film to 'Abandoned' instead of Orphanage as the comments we got back from the others when we presented out pitch were rather negative towards the name as it was unoriginal.

Feedback on pitch

From the feedback that we were given from the class, the target audience we used for our pitch were around the correct age range (12-25). Also the director that we used was suitable for our genre James Watkins we looked into our director’s success in other films and the budget, he has directed similar films e.g. The Woman In Black so we then came up with a budget we thought would be suitable for our film. In near enough every sheet we had ‘It definitely has potential’.

In the feedback I saw a repeated thing that didn’t work is the name for our film ‘Orphanage’ it has been said to be original. Although we struggled with coming up with a new title. Some people said that they were confused with our storyline, as we didn’t expand on some of the main characters like ‘Mildred’ for example she had a main role in the film, but she didn’t come across as she did in the pitch that we gave.  They said that the actors/actress we chose weren’t recognisable enough although we chose them as we thought they were suitable for our price range. Other than that, I think that our pitch went rather well as we all had a role to play and got a mixture of good and bad feedback. 

Sweeney Todd

The title sequence begins looking animated. Animation may show us that it doesn't take itself seriously even though its about murder. Rain drops of blood begin to come down, the sequence as a whole is very dark and features a lot of dull colours although the colour red shines out brightly. The whole title sequence is full of dark colours the only other colour that you see is red which represents blood other than that the colours are rather basic, grey, black and a moldy green. The use of dark colours make the audience think that something bad is bound to happen especially as when blood is used dropping onto a window the contrast between the two adds to the fact that death will probably feature in the film. The typography used looks as if it is set in the olden times as it looks like an old newspaper type font. The way the titles appear is in order of whom is key to the film. The names that appear all fade in and fade out which could create an eerie atmosphere for the audience, where they fade out this could foreshadow that the actors characters will die or disappear. Also all the typography used in the title sequence is written in write except for the name 'Sweeney Todd' which is in red, this is given us an inside look that he is the reason for death as the red makes us think blood. The typography is pretty basic the whole way through. By the way the typography is shown it is showing us that it is based in the olden days.

At the beginning of the title sequence we are shown a tracking shot of the tops of houses, the houses have working chimneys with smoke coming out of them this shows us that the film will be set many years back. There is enigma created when we see the pictures on the wall of the two woman, this is then leaving the audience thinking 'Who are they?'. The sequence is going in order like its some sort of recipe. The chair is a main feature in the title sequence which can show that this will be a main part in the film. Blood drips onto a set of cogs enabling them to turn, this shows that blood will be needed in the film also this could mean that 'Business runs on blood'. the blood also suggests the genre of the film which would be horror. We are shown an oven with big flames in, the fire could foreshadow death. The music starts off as mellow but becomes louder towards the end of the title sequence, this makes the audience feel as though something bad is bound to happen. The music to the title sequence tends to build up tension. You can hear the thunder in the background this represents a dark and scary atmosphere. By the way the title sequence has been shot, this is then pulling the audience in and showing them what the film is about. In the sequence we can see that there is a trapdoor, this could show us that there is secrets that he is hiding as no-one has been down there.

The sequence as a whole is very dark and the use of white typography seems to be the only pure colour. The text and dullness of the sequence work together with the blood and connotations of death to help establish the horror genre.

Continuity Clip.

Evaluation:

To begin with we were assigned groups for this task and had to think of something we could do in our continuity sequence, once we had come up with an idea we had to storyboard everything that we had thought of. I wasn't in for the recording of the video although I liked the ideas that they came up with once I'd watched it, I then knew what I wanted to do with the editing of the video as we all had the opportunity to edit on our own. We had to make sure that we had the 180 degree rule, shot reverse shot and match on action in our sequence. 

We then had to put the clips that were recorded onto the computers so that we could convert them into mov as they were originally MP4, we had to do this as mov works better with Final Cut Pro. Each member of our group got to edit using Final Cut Pro after we had converted all the files into mov. This was the first time that I had used Final Cut Pro on my own although once I remembered the basics I thought that it was rather easy. I found it interesting how you could cut something out of one clip and then combine the next clip together as if they were shot together without something missing. Although I found it difficult trying to get a smooth cut in so that you couldn't tell where there was a major jump as we had to get it as smooth as possible so that we could export it into a file. 

If I was to do this again I would make sure that I was in for the recording as I missed a major part of this assignment although once I got told what had been shot I then knew what I was doing in Final Cut. I am pleased with the final clip as it has come out very well and they shot using each rule that we were given to use, there was this one shot when it jumps from Tabo sitting on  the chair and then in the next shot it was him walking away, we didn't shoot him getting up so there is a huge jump to the next shot. Also there was a close up shot of Tabo's face although it didn't work well as he wasn't positioned right in the next shot as there was a frame in the background and you can see that he was a couple of steps back to what the close up was showing, so we didn't use that clip in the video.