Planning of Opening Sequence

Before beginning any filming of our opening sequence OUCH Productions as a group had to plan out what is going to happen by using a storyboard and/or a spider diagram. Also before we could do anything we had to discuss the locations available to us which would suit our genre and decide on which of the locations we were going to use and why.

Location

The type of location we were looking for was one with a table in the middle of the room of which atleast 3 people could sit around playing poker and cards etc. The location also had to have a door of which went straight outdoors where a silhouette could possibly be seen.

After talking about and discussing the various points we came down to the conclusion that we were going to have to use someones house. Once thinking of all the possibilities within each others houses we resulted in deciding to use the dining room area of my house. A factor that helped us come to this conclusion was also the fact that 2 of our group, myself and Gregg live in Eye, where our opening sequence is going to be filmed and is not too difficult for the other 2 members Alex Baines and Henry Dunn to get to.

The pictures below are of our chosen location in its original state before we re-arranged it ready for filming.



















The 4 pictures above show the space and table available in my dining area to film our opening sequence. With there being a lack of space at the moment, the middle panel of the table will be removed taking it down to a 4 person table, perfect for what we need. Also in the pictures you can see the colour on the walls but this will all become irrelevant as we are filming in black and white.

The archway which can be seen in one of the pictures into the kitchen will be covered over when it comes to our filming as the kitchen area is inappropiate and not needed during the filming of our opening sequence. All of the pictures and stuff seen in the images above will be removed and appropiate props will be added to fit the genre of our film.

The picture below is of our chosen location, my dining room, ready and prepared for the filming of our opening sequence.



Setting

The look of the setting and also the things present within our setting will all have to be appropiate to the genre and time period to ensure this is all portrayed across to the viewers. The things present within our setting:

• Wooden Cabinet
• Door straight to the outdoors (only door)
• Low Light
• Table, Poker Table on top of it
• Converted Dining Room
• Smokey Room
• Poker Room
• 1950's Italiano/American

Props

In our opening sequence the use of our props will be very important and help establish the genre and time period. We therefore need to make sure that the props we use will be appropiate to our genre and time period. Props we will use within our opening sequence:

• Cigars
• Money
• Poker Table
• Spirit Bottles and Glasses
• keys
• Poker Chips
• Briefcase
• Cards
• Olives and Nuts
• Knife
• Holy/Italian Pictures
  
• Ashtrays

Below are a few pictures of the props that are going to be present within our opening sequence. All of the props below that we are going to use are neccessary to our genre, setting and time period.

Costume

The costume that will be used within our opening sequence will also have to be appropiate to the genre, time period and storyline. The actors in our piece will have to look ready for some gambling business. Costume going to be used within our opening sequence:

• Shirts
• Ties
• Suit Jackets
• Cocktail Sticks
• Jewellery
• Watches
• Cigars/Cigarettes

Below are the pictures of the 5 people present in our opening sequence in their costume before filming.
In the picures above you can see the use of costume within our opening sequence. All of the actors present are wearing some form of shirt and/or suit jacket. This is exactly the look we aimed for to portray our 1950's gangster genre film opening and we believe from the pictures above we achieved this very well.

In the picture below is the spider diagram of the rough plan of our props, costume and setting. We had to carefully take this all into consideration before beginning filming so that we knew exactly what we were going to use and why.


Deciding on the Film Name

Within our planning we decided to come up with the name of our film for our opening sequence. Due to the film being an Italiano/American gangster film we wanted to make our film title Italian to be unusual compared to any other films present in the filming world and also any other films within our media group. After another group discussion we decided on the film title 'Ace of Hearts' of which in Italian translates to 'Lasso di Cuori'. We decided on this film name as in our opening sequence we are going to have the younger American man in the possession of the 'Ace of hearts' when he wins the poker game; and coinsidentally the Italian gang are going to be called L'asso di Cuori.Storyboard and Synopsis

Storyboard..
Before any filming takes place, as a group we must create a storyboard to make the filming of our opening sequence so much easier for OUCH Productions. Also the storyboard will enable us to film the opening sequence in the shortest time possible and without hesitation we will know exactly what camera shots/angles are needed. This will also shut out any uneccessary arguments or debates as we would have already planned everything before the filming procedure. The picture below is of our storyboard we drew up before the filming:


Box 1 of the storyboard shows the opening shot we want within our opening sequence. It is of Graham, part of L'asso di Cuori, smoking on a cigarette as the camera pans up towards a holy/Italian picture on the wall. It also says 'in association with film 4' across the top.

Box 2 shows 2 of the mobsters from L'asso di Cuori playing poker smoking on cigarettes and cigars.

Box 3 shows the entrance of the young American hotshot opening up his briefcase on the poker table.

Box 4 shows the luck of Alex's hand of cards, the 2 aces including the ace of hearts. During this shot we will also try to add in a voice about his luck.

Box 5 shows the leader of the mob group L'asso di Cuori as the young American is pouring a glass of drink, this will give us time and space to add in who is playing the Italian leader; Steven Cooper.

Box 6 shows the eldest in L'asso di Cuori, Art Cooper, using his initiative and experience of the poker game by folding and throwing his cards in.

Box 7 shows the appearance of the assasin, Henry Dunn, who has turned up to recieve the debt owed by the young American hotshot.

Box 8 is a bird's eye view of the poker table at the end of the game with all of the chips, money, keys and jewellery etc. present along with smoke being blown across the screen. At this stage the film title will appear on the screen.

Synopsis..
From our Storyboard, Spider Diagram and brief discussions we can piece together the running and storyline/synopsis of our opening sequence.

Our opening sequence will consist of 3 older Italian men playing poker with a younger American for money and high value goods such as watches, jewellery and keys. The filming area will be made smokey by 2 of them smoking on cigars and cigarettes; we will also try to make the smoke be seen on the camera as we believe this will add great effect.

The beginning of our opening sequence will begin with one of the men smoking on a cigarette with a holy/Italian picture seen on the wall behind. This will then cut/fade into the 3 older men shuffling the cards ready for a game of poker when a younger man enters with a briefcase of which he opens and pulls out cash notes and cocktail sticks. The 4 men then carry out an intense game of poker of where OUCH Productions as a group can use a range of camera angles and techniques to show this to the audience. At the end of the opening sequence the younger man will be seen to have won and begin to collect his winnings but the largest of the 3 men will prevent him from doing so and another male figure will be seen at the door holding a knife; this is when the film, 'L'asso di Cuori' will begin!

We will try to make sure that when the male figure in the door is seen that the audience will see this from the younger mans perspective. We think this is one shot that can add extra effect to our opening sequence. Also we are going to have the whole of our opening sequence filmed in black and white to portray the time era of the 1950's and partially portray the genre as a few older gangster films are filmed in black and white. Within our opening sequence we will include no dialogue but include some voice over from the younger mans perspective and also a soundtrack that will fit our genre and time period.

Risk Assessment

Dangerous props and/or setting need to be taken into consideration carefully and discussed to ensure no injuries or accidents will occur during the filming of our film opening sequence.

The Knife..
The knife used at the very end of the opening sequence by Henry Dunn needed to be used very carefully. This prop could potentially injure either himself or someone else within our media group and actors. Therefore to avoid this we must ensure that the knife is not used or taken from the draw until the time it is needed for filming.

Glasses, Bottles..
Broken glass bottles and glasses can cut people and so therefore within our opening sequence we will make sure that the bottles and glasses present will not be thrown or placed on the edge of any surfaces making sure that they will not break.

Cigars and Cigarettes..
The use of cigars and cigarettes in our opening sequence can potentially burn people or possibly cause a fire. Therefore in our opening sequence we will have to ensure safely that they are only lit and used when needed and that the ashtrays are used to try and keep this risk down to a minimum.

After taking all of the above into consideration we deemed it safe to go ahead with the filming of our opening sequence.

Genre

Before planning our final piece, the opening sequence of a film, and after watching and reviewing some opening sequences we as a group had to chose which of the many Genres we were going to use for our opening sequence. Listed and briefly explained below are some of the possible genres available to us to use. The majority of the information I have collected about the following genres below was taken from the website: http://www.wikipedia.org/ and we found this really helpful.

Thriller..
Thrillers are normally fast-pacing containing frequent action and including resourceful heroes who must thwart the plans of more powerful and equipped villians. Thriller films are normally filmed in exotic settings such as foreign cities, desserts or high seas. There are many great thriller films around including 'The Bourne Identity' and 'Seven'.

Western..
Westerns are devoted to telling stories primarily set in the later half of the 19th century. They often portray how primitive and obsolete ways of life confronted modern technological or social changes. This can be shown through conflict between natives and settlers of the U.S. cavalry or between sheep and cattle farmers. American Westerns of the 1940s and 1950s emphasize the values of honor and sacrifice. Westerns from the 1960s and 1970s often had more pessimistic views, glorifying a rebellious anti-hero and highlighting the cynicism, brutality and inequality of the American West.


Comedy..
Comedy is any humourous discourse generally intended to amuse, especially in television, film and stand-up comedy. Much comedy contains variations on the elements of surprise, incongruity, conflict, repetitiveness, and the effect of opposite expectations, but there are many recognized genres of comedy.

Horror..
Horror movies normally strive to elicit the emotions of fear, horror and terror from viewers. Their plots frequently contain death and many also include a central villian. Horror movies are generally bloody and gory. Horror began as a genre with black and white films based on early gothic/horror books such as 'Frankenstein' and 'Dracula'. Horror genre films is now one of the fastest growing genres in the film making world.


Action..
Action films are jaw dropping type of films that tend to keep the viewers on the edge of their seats. Action films are still today known for some of the best films in the world including 'James Bond' and 'Mission Impossible'. In almost every action film there is a muscular powerful male who has a job as a secret agent or undercover guy who normally saves the day in dramatic action fashion. Action films normally contain a beautiful women who gets saved by the hero and falls in love.

Romance..
Romance is a very popular genre and is based around only one thing...Love! The success of the genre romance has come through its use of highly emotional and touching storylines. Many examples of great romantic films are 'The Titanic' and 'Romeo and Juliet'.




Gangster..
Gangster movies contain criminals who are normally members of a crime organisation (gang). The terms gangster, criminals and criminal organisation are normally used in reference and association with the Italian Mafia and individuals such as Al Capone. There are many popular ganster movies including 'The Godfather Series' and 'GoodFellas'.

Fantasy..
Fantasy films use magic and other supernatural forms as their plot, theme and setting. Fantasy was and is generally distinguished from science fiction and horror. Fantasy is dominated by mass medievalist form since the great success of the novel 'Lord of the Rings' by J.R.R Tolkien.


After reviewing and talking about the possible genres available to us, we as a group went in the direction of an Italiano/American gangster style opening sequence. We said that everything we film will be in black and white for effect and that to portray the gangster genre we will film it in a poker area and add appropiate effects and soundtrack to get this across to our viewers. The time period of our opening sequence will also be the 1950's.

We have decided to choose this genre because of the technical abilities we can use within it. For example; the black and white effect, smoke across the screen, a soundtrack, voice overs from a persons perspective and silhouettes. We also chose this genre because we wanted to make an alteration to our preliminary video and our preliminary video was a humourous piece, whereas this one is going to be rather more serious.

Opening Sequences

Before beginning anything to do with our final piece, the Film Opening Sequence, we took the opportunity as a group/class to look at and review some opening sequences establishing all the strengths and everything that was found within the opening sequences. Stuff like Music/Soundtracks, Establishing Shots and quick and clear identification of the Genre were found in all opening sequences. These things need to be taken into consideration and added appropiately to our opening sequence. The music and soundtracks are used for effect and to also identify genre, but they will also become useful within our opening sequence as it will block out any unecessary background noise picked up by the video camera.

We looked at opening sequences from films such as Dirty Harry, Seven and The Usual Suspects.

Mise-en-Scene..

Mise-en-scene is used in all 3 of these movies. Mise-en-Scene refers to everything that appears before the camera including props, sets, actors, costumes and lighting. If the piece of filming is paused, the viewers must be able to establish the genre and exactly what is happening in the picture, this is the identification of mise-en-scene. Within our opening sequence we will try to ensure that mise-en-scene can be established by the props, costume and lighting we use in our video.

Ideology..

Ideology is the use of either a moral, political or social message portrayed to the viewers through the opening sequence. This is seen quite clearly in Dirty Harry when the murder of the women happens and they try to prevent it from happening in the future.

Sound..

In all 3 of the opening sequences to the films above there is the use of both non-diegetic and diegetic sound. Diegetic sounds are the sounds heard from the camera; natural sounds, whereas non-diegetic sounds are those which have been added to the video like sirens or church bells. All sounds used within opening sequences help portray the emotions and feelings within the film, this is shown in Dirty Harry through the sound that was used at the very beginning wen the list of deceased officers is scrolling down the screen.

Characterisation..

Characterisation is when the director dresses and portrays his actors to the audience in the correct way making sure they see the correct look of the actors. This can be put across to viewers via the use of props, costume and dialogue. This will be significant within our opening sequence to enable the viewers to establish as much as possible within our opening sequence.

Music..

Directors use soundtracks and music when dialogue is not being said to build suspense and make the audience want to know what is going to happen next. The music is normally a little eerie and quiet and fits the genre of the film.

Narrative..

Narrative is normally used in opening sequences from the heros perspective but within our opening sequence we will be looking to use no narrative and just a soundtrack and action.