Our Original Aims

When we began this project these were our aims:

• We wanted to create either an animated or real life piece that portrayed a moral.
• We wanted our piece to have music and audio that we had created ourselves.
• We wanted our piece to have a "magical" element as our research had shown that this appeals to a young audience.
• We wanted our piece to take place in a non-descript location so that it would not be recognisable and would be as realistic a childrens piece as possible.
• We wanted our piece to have several characters.
• We wanted to use a range of camera angles, pans and tracks.
• we wanted our story to have a simple storyline so that it would be easy to follow for the younger generations but still kept the audience engaged.
• We didn't want to use too many sound effects that might sound "cartoony".

What we've done so far

• Finished all recording
• Uploaded the footage
• Created titles
• Check the footage to know where to put the music
• Made most of the music, some needs extra loops
• Made the company logo
• Cutting and editing footage

Everything has been made but we still need to finish off putting everything together to create the finish product. 

Music and October 19th.

Today, only me (paige) and josh were in class and so we had to choose whether to wait for the other two members of our group before we started filming or whether to just start and then to finish next lesson when the other two would hopefully be there.

We chose the second option and so our plans had to be changed slightly.

Josh has now become the main character of our piece and ive taken on the filming, if the other two members of our group are in class tomorrow we will all swap around doing the camerawork but me and josh thought it would be best to use the time productively and get at least some of the filming done.

In the time we had we actually managed to get at least 4+ minutes of footage, including many extra shots other than the ones we planned and we have got the entire "walk through the forest" done and tomorrow we will need to film the other side of the conversation with the tree that we had previously filmed.

MUSIC

A lot of our piece relies on music to carry it along instead of speech since our piece relies on a single characters journey. And so i have searched and have managed to find a website called http://www.incompetech.com/ which allows you to use their free instrumental pieces in whatever you want as long as you credit them. This would also give us a chance to use another title.

So here are some pieces i have considered for our piece.

When The Wind Blows

Genre: Contemporary
Length: 4:26
Instruments: Guitar, Synths

This piece is very soft, gentle...

Quite ideal for a walk in a forest.

Perhaps a little sombre though, maybe best used just in part.

Scheming Weasel (faster version)

Genre: Soundtrack
Length: 1:29
Instruments: English Horn, Bassoons, Bass, Glock, Clarinet, Celesta, Triangle, Bass Clarinet

I really like this piece, its playful yet has a darkish undertone, its reminiscent of old video games that had a slightly tense scene. It would work well for some of our shots.

Improbable

Genre: Modern
Length: 1:41
Instruments: Piano

This is a great piece, very....ploddy, but great for the jumping scene we have if we can blend it into another piece.

Frost Waltz

Genre: Soundtrack
Length: 2:15
Instruments: Celesta, Glockenspiel, Basses, Cellos, Violas, Violins, French Horns,

A very whimsical piece, works very well with the celesta and glockenspiel, i really think we should use this piece...

Although it does have quite a wintery feel to it.

Cartoon Pizzicato

Genre: Stings
Length: 1:12

This would be amazing to use as sound effects as this piece is actually the "creeping" music usually played on piano or strings in kids cartoons to show someone is sneaking about.



Different jobs that might have titles on a film.

This is a list of all the different jobs that could have their own titles on a film.

• Aerial Specialist
• Animal Trainer
• Animator
• Animator (with Live Action)
• Art Director
• Assistant Director
• Assistant Producer
• Associate Producer
• Boom Operator
• Camera Assistant
• Camera Operator
• Casting Director
• Composer
• Compositor
• Construction Coordinator
• Costume Designer
• Costumes / Wardrobe
• Creature Designer
• Development Executive
• Dialect Coach
• Digital Imaging Technician
• Director
• Director of Photography
• Assistant Director
• Editor
• Effects Editor
• Assistant Editor
• Executive Assistant
• Executive Producer
• Foley Artist
• Graphics/Titles Designer
• Lighting Supervisor
• Location Manager
• Makeup Artist
• Marine Specialist
• Motion Graphics
• Music Editor
• Music Supervisor
• Producer
• Production Assistant
• Production Coordinator
• Production Designer
• Production Manager
• Production Supervisor
• Prop Maker
• Prop Master
• Researcher
• Sound Assistant
• Sound Designer
• Sound Editor
• Sound Engineer
• Special Effects
• Special Effects Editor
• Stage Manager
• Steadicam Operator
• Still Photographer
• Story Editor
• Storyboard Artist
• Stunt Coordinator
• Stunt Driver
• Supervising Producer
• Talent Booker
• Technical Director
• Video Editor
• Visual Effects
• Voiceover Artist
• Wardrobe Stylist
• Writer

So far we have:

Yesterday we started filming for our childrens film opening in which a young boy is in search of a magic emerald and so ventures to a forest to find it. He meets a talking tree who directs him to a wizard over a hill to continue his quest.

So as of 15th October 2010 we have got:

1. A story to be continued and adapted
2. Our characters
3. A 10 second shot of a tree that can be looped for editing.
4. All the dialogue spoken by the "Talking Tree" (Me.)
5. A shot-list of everything that needs filming that can be adapted should we encounter problems like rain, area restrictions etc.
6. A logo for our film production company that moves, already established as a film file.
7. Storyboarding
8. Research into opening titles and childrens film openings.
9. Photographs of our film location.

TO BE UPDATED

Analysis of an opening sequence

Analysis of an opening sequence

I have looked at the beginning of a Family Guy episode to try and understand how many titles are used and what they are, where they are placed etc. and to find out how many shots appear in a short opening sequence and then how often the shots should change.

During an episode of Family Guy there is a short opening sequence that introduces the episode before the theme music is played.

Midway through the theme music, just two of the titles are played, which are
"Created by Seth Mcfarlane" and "Developed by David Zuckerman".
These titles are shown in black on a yellow background at the top centre of the screen allowing the main characters to surround the titles.

When the music finishes the other titles are shows, one at a time, with pauses between them of 3-10 seconds, depending on what is happening in the scene.

The titles are:

• Executive Producer - Seth Mcfarlane
• Executive Producer - Daniel Palladino
• Co. Executive Producer - David. A. Goodman
• Supervising Producers - Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman
• Producer - Alison Adler
• Producer - Gene Laufenberg
• Supervising Director - Peter Shin

The scene then changes location.

• Supervising Director - Pete Michaels
• Produced by - Kara Vallow
• Written by - Dave Collard and Ken Goin
• Directed by - Pete Michaels

All in all there are 11 different titles for the beginning of a Family Guy episode but the names of the characters voices are only listed at the end of the program.

How many shots are in an opening scene of Family Guy?

In the beginning of Family Guy, before the opening titles there is a scene that sets the scene for the episode and introduces some of the characters.
The beginning scene generally lasts 1-2 minutes. The one I have studied lasted 1 minute and 18 seconds. The amount of different shots used in this opening scene was 28.
So if you divide 78 seconds by 28 shots, you get 2.78. So the average shot for a Family Guy opening lasts about 3 seconds.

First Storyboard Ideas

1st shot shows a long shot of the woods.
2nd shot shows a zoom on a character walking to the woods.
3rd shot shows close up from behind the character.
4th shot shows close up of front of character.

children's film openings

Toy story 2

The use of action and fighting shows that the beginning is aimed toward stereotypical young boys but can be enjoyed by anyone.

Sex & Nudity

Note: The number at the beginning of each section refers to how explicit that aspect of the film is on a scale of 1-10. The fraction at the end of the Frightening/Intense Scenes category is the total sum of all the sections out of the highest sum possible (50) and therefore an approximation of how much explicit content of any kind is in the film.

Rating: 1/10

Some "male" toys admire lots of dancing Barbies in swimsuits.

One or two very mild jokes relating to the female Barbies.

After Buzz flirts with Jesse and gets tongue tied, she does his trademark "skate down the ramp and open the door" move. Watching her do this, his wings spring open, insinuating the toy equivalent of an erection.

Violence & Gore

Rating: 4/10

Nearly all played for laughs: In a sequence that turns out to be a video game, we see a character exchanging laser beam fire with an army of robots; some robot parts fly to the ground after an explosion and a character gets its torso shot off. A toy flies into a door, a toy is tied onto cardboard and put in a box, a toy is used as a battering ram, a toy tackles another and pulls its arm behind its back, a toy tries to hit another with a pickaxe, a couple of toys scuffle, two toys shoot at each and two boxing toys punch each other. A dog picks up a toy with its mouth, shakes it around, throws it to the ground, then licks its face. A toy's arm rips off and is stitched back on; in a later scene, a toy uses a pickaxe to rip out some of the seams again (and again, the arm is stitched together). A couple of punches and scuffles; several falls and pratfalls. In a dream sequence, a boy throws a toy into a trash can filled with broken toy parts; when the toy tries to climb out, an arm pulls it back down. Twice, a toy grabs onto a moving vehicle and once the toy falls off and rolls on the ground, uninjured. Toys cross a busy street while carrying orange cones over themselves; many cars swerve and screech to a halt to avoid them (some are nearly smashed by truck) and two cars crash into each other. Reckless driving; in one scene, the toys drive a car on a busy street. A man burps on a toy that is standing next to his mouth. Some yelling.

Profanity

Rating: 0/10

None.

Alcohol/Drugs/Smoking

Rating: 0/10

none

Frightening/Intense Scenes

Emporor Zurg and The Prospector may scare some young viewers.

Woody has a nightmare about falling into to dumpster and getting pulled down by toy parts that come to life.

The certificate for this film is U.

Preliminary Task

Our preliminary task of the beginning of a conversation being held between a policeman and a criminal.

Childrens Tv/Film Homework

Spongebob -
Genre - Comedy
Target Audience - 5+

Main Attributes -

Shows like Spongebob always have a comedic main character, e.g. not sarcastic, because kids understand humor.

Spongebob uses lots of sound effects to represent situations that kids might not otherwise get.

Spongebob uses a lot of songs and repetition because this makes it easier for kids to understand and learn.

Spongebob also encourages sharing, friendship and responsibility e.g. looking after his pet snail.

Lots of bright colours, interesting backgrounds and upbeat music to keep kids attention.





Something Special -
Genre - Educational Comedy
Target Audience - 3+

Main Attributes -

Kids enjoy learning at a young age and having a program that teaches sign language to young children also teaches tolerance and understanding. Kids also like being able to keep secrets, so learning another language, even sign language benefits them as kids and as adults.

The show features kids with actual disabilities e.g. autism and downs syndrome and this also helps kids to understand that even though some kids are different they are still the same.

Something Special uses funny noises and sound effects, repetition, a funny and colourful host, very bright and clean backgrounds or settings and lots of movement to help keep kids interested.

The Lion King -
Genre - Musical/Comedy/Tragedy(deals with death)
Target Audience - 6+

There isn't costume used because the characters are lions, baboons, hyena's etc, but there is a distinct difference between male and female characters, particularly by voice.

The main character is Simba who for a lot of the film is meant to be the same "age" as the intended viewer, this is probably so the viewer can understand Simba's actions and choices.

The Lion King uses loud, interesting repetitious songs which are easily memorable so that kids stay interested.

The kids films always seem to have as big problem the main character has to work out and a 'Bad Guy' who is always defeated.

The Lion King helps to teach kids about friendship.



In conclusion -
Kids TV and Films always seem to have following attributes,

• Bright Colours
• Repetitious speech or songs
• A comedic main character
• A problem that needs solving and, 
• A lesson to learn, e.g. a moral.