Filming

On Sunday i started filming for my film. I wanted to do it when it was slightly darker so i started filming at about 4.30pm. I managed to get most of it done but by the time it came to the kidnapping scene it was nearly pitch black so i decided to call it a day. I hope to get this last scene done later in the week, as i was meant to do it today but my main character was ill and unable to.

I am satisfied with what i filmed, but i dont think my pans are smooth enough and i have a lot of takes where there are distractions in the background, eg dogs and a flying frisby. I think i might film these parts again, but this should only take 5-10 minutes.

Next week i hope to complete my editing of my film, so i am looking foward to what the end product will be.

Generic Conventions of Film Openings
The generic conventions of film openings vary depending on the type of genre the film is. The genre I have decided to look at is action films, as it is something that interests me for my own 2 minute clip.
One of the first conventions I found was that the films tend to introduce the main character in the first couple of scenes. In Die Hard 4 and Blade, the characters are shown at a high angle to show their importance to the movie. It makes the audience realise that these characters will be the ones the watch during the movie. In Blade, the main character stands tall, and he is wearing all black leather, to make us think he is the cool guy and can be very dangerous, which is realised when he pulls out the gun.
Another convention which I found common was that the film is usually introduced with a chase scene or a fighting scene. In Mission Impossible and Minority Report, the scene starts of straight in the action. This makes the audience gripped straight away, and the effect is that they want to keep on watching further. It also lets us know that it is an action film. There are a lot of close up shots of the main characters, again telling us who is important.
One thing I also noticed is that the films use a lot of pyrotechnics, such as explosions and fire and other things blowing up in James Bond. This really gets the audience fired up as seeing things like this makes people want to carry on watching, as they like the excitement. Obviously I will not be able to do this for my two minute film opening as I do not have the budget, but I could always try the complete opposite and try a calm beginning like the one in Die Hard.
The beginning of some action films explains the life of the main character. In James Bond, The Quantum of Solace, one of the opening scenes talks about how Bond has lost the love of his life and how he is out to get revenge. This explains the plot of the movie and what we should expect. This also occurs in Die Hard, when the main character talks about his family and where he comes from. Maybe I could do this for my Film opening, as it would be easy to do and it may be a good way to show what my movies about.

Planning My Film

Before i started planning my film, i needed to come up with an idea. I am not a veery decisive person, and i was constantly changing my mind on what i wanted my film to be about. I wanted to do something different to what everyone else was doing but with it not being too tricky to film.

I decided that i was going to film a drama/murder mystery film, as i already had a few locations in my head as to where i could film it, such as 40ft Park and Leatherhead high street. As there would be fewer people in the park, i think it would be easier to film there.

The synopsis of my film is that a teenage boy plans to meet up with mates but is taken hostage in the park. The teenagers mates then have to try and work out where he is in a 2 day time limit or otherwise he will be killed.

My film could be seen as similar to something like the TV drama Johnathan Creek, and i will watch a few episodes to get an idea on what themes are used during the openings of Johnathan Creek