EVALUATION
Our project was to create an opening sequence of a film which has to be two minutes long. In my group I worked along side Sophie Spear and Joe Holden to produce our clip. Sophie was in charge of costume design and director of photography. Joe wrote the script. Between us we managed to pick the music that best suit’s the clip. I was the director and the editor. Between us we managed to finish the project but not without a few misunderstandings due to the narrative. We were all happy with the out come and the end.

Our groups clip is a good example of an opening sequence, not only because we set up enigmas but we also set up the genre and established the main characters with in the first two minutes. Our clips genre is war/action.
This lets the audience know what they are watching and weather it is right for them, and also by setting up enigmas with in the first few minutes it draws the audience in and gets them wanting to know more and therefore they carry on watching.

Our project relates to male and female characters, and also that of the military.
We have shown them differently by their costumes, the female is wearing a bit of colour were as the males are in full black. This makes the female stand out above the males, the audience are aware of this and therefore create enigma. Also we have used typical male and female characters but turned them around so that it is the female who is the main character and no the male. For this we have used black and white affect to show that the males are the flashbacks.
Instead of it being stereotyped by the male always being the lead, in our group we turned it around so that it would have a different twist to it and create even more enigmas for the audience.
Our audience feed back shows that 95% could tell what genre it was and who the main character was.

We want are film to be British and therefore we would go with Film 4. Film 4 has had a few big hits in the past year or two for example, How to lose friends and alienate people, and also a big hit within the past few months is Slumdog millionaire. Even though these films aren’t to the same genre we feel that this company will be able to get our film across to the right audience and attract them in.

Our groups media project target audiences 16-35. It is more popular with the younger audiences because they enjoy war films with action and also with a bit romance. Also the younger audience are more likely to go to the cinema then the older age groups.
Because are clip is war and action with romance it appeals to males who want to go and see action packed films, and also females who wants to go and see a romance. For example other films with female heroes are, Sarah Connor from Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) and also Ellen Ripley from Alien (1979).
In our groups opening sequence the narrative is that the women who you see walking though fields by herself has lost someone close to her and therefore she has flash back. As she is walking she remembers those she has lost. The two males are fighting in a war which is based not to far in the future.
Within this sequence we use fast paste editing with fast paste music in order to pull the younger audiences in, . also we show extreme close ups so that the audience knows that the characters have emotions and therefore relate to them.

When the female is walking that is in the presents, but as she walks she has flashbacks which are made to stand out by being in black and white. The narrative is in chronological order but with flash backs showing the past. By setting up flash backs it draws the audience in because not only are they asking them self’s about the lonely female in the fields but also they are asking about the two males the flashbacks who appear to be fighting in a war. Because of the way the enigmas are set up it allows the audience to have more room to come up with what is going to happen.
The use of the female and male roles is typical but the way we used the female as the main character may cause a stir. Also the use of past and present is a big part in the film along with life and death.

We have used voiceover’s in our clip because we couldn’t of got the same effect as we did by using voiceovers. They are used though out the clip and lets the audience gain an understanding of what is going on, and also empathise with the main character.
The way in which are group built up suspense was by the music. It firsts stars off as just wind but then the music kicks in making the past quicken. Then half way thought there is a sting when the action really kicks in but then dies away back to the music which then fades out back in to the wind.
Our sequence shows that males and females are both equal and that it doesn’t mater that a female is a main character and an action film. Also it shows that war is harsh and that a lot of people are killed in them no mater what they have or which war they are fighting you can still get killed.
While filming we used media language by using natural lighting. We used stings for when the action kicked in. We have non diegetic music and also voiceovers. While editing we added a dissolve when it shows the female walking down the field at the beginning of the clip. Instead of watching the whole of the footage of her walking down we used a dissolve transition to show time passing. Also we have a lot of countryside in the shots as it is set in the future.


I have learnt though out this project how to improve my research skills. Also I have learnt just in this project how to edit and add in music. By using blogger.com I have learnt how to handle documenting what we have done and how we have done it. Not only this but I have received better skills at working in a group.
Looking back on my preliminary task I think that I have learnt every thing completely better and was able to connect the skills to direct and edit our clip. With our preliminary task the editing was jumpy and improper but with the opening clip it has turned out great.
In the opening clip we are able to establish the characters unlike the task, and also we were able to use better shots for example out in the open instead of on a corridor. We were able to add voiceovers and music to the opening clip but with the task we had to use what we were able to get.
Conclusion
Our overall clip turned put great. Although we had arguments over the fact of the narrative and the characters. By the end of the project we all had learnt how to get on better as a team and were are all happy with the outcome. Between us we were able to bring out skills together to create a great clip.


Natalie Ainsworth