Ollie Johnson
AS/A2 Media

For my coursework I had the choice of either producing a magazine front cover and article, or a short opening to a film. I chose to make a film opening as I think it will allow me to achive a higher mark and i feel more confident making a film that using photoshop. Me and Tim chose to work together and create a chase scene similar to the kind seen in spy or thriller films. However we wanted to make it stand out from all the other film openings of a similar genre and we came up with a few ideas on how to do this. These included incorporating stop motion into our film and using flashback clips or voice overs. Hopefully these ideas, along with unusual shots and sound effects will make our chase scene really stand out and help us get a top grade.

Target Audience Profiling

This is a mood board we created showing our targets audiences like dislikes etc. I can refer back to this when making my film to make sure my film is relevant and appealing to the target audience.

The feedback we received on paper was minimal but the feedback whilst presenting was fantastic. As pointed out by the class our ideas were going to make the scene different and stand out but we might have problems keeping continuity and not being able to film all of it in one night might ruin how realistic the film is. Other feedback included mentions of our stop motion idea being a very good one but that we should investigate other areas of filming the bullet to find the best one before start filming. But collectively me and Tim decided the best feedback of all was the advice on editing: in order to keep the audience hooked we need to use quick editing and unusual shots. Furthermore where most chase scenes fail is in the direction of shots, in other words most chase scenes can become confusing and the audience can't keep track of what's happening.

Paper feedback included: 'finding a place for chase and incorporating flashbacks may cause problems' 'use slow motion before each flashback and dramatic music during chase scene' 'have lots of close ups and mid shots' '2 second shots' 'experiment with sound effects' 'sounds like its well planned out'
These comments however brief will also help massively when concentrating on each aspect of the film during editing, it is these comments that we can refer back to during any stage of the project, making sure that we always have something to think about or improve.

To get some feedback and ideas to help us with our project we put together a short film pitch to show infront of the class and our teachers. After presenting our pitch the rest of the class wrote down their advice and and any potential problems they could see, aswell as asking us questions about our film.

This short clip from 'The Bourne Ultimatum' shows a car chase typical to the action genre. The editing is extremely fast with 23 shots in 22 seconds. As this is more that a shot a second, the result is an extremely fast paced action sequence that grips the audience. Also the camera is not always steady and this adds to the effect, almost making the audience feel like they could be in the scene themselves.

This is the opening title sequence for the latest James Bond film,'Quantum of Solace'. I have looked at this because it is considered to be an action/thriller film. Also, as i need to make an opening titles sequence as part of my film opening coursework, i am looking at several title sequences for inspiration.
The title sequence uses several edited effects on shots of the main characters. For example most are silhouettes and there is a slow motion shot of a gun being fired, and the bullet flying through the air. The names of the production company, main actor and author of the books are shows, before the title of the film. This is followed by the names of other actors/actresses who appear in the film. The music played over the top is the main song from the soundtrack to the film, and the titles are almost like a music video.
Although the opening titles last for over 3 minutes, they keep the audience entertained mainly due to the combination of editing, effects and the soundtrack.