Best Of Bond Opening Sequences

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Bond Opening Sequence

Quantum of Solace

Each Bond film seems to have 'James Bond' shooting his gun and then from there, the title sequence begins. This is an extremely unique technique that is used in the Bond films. 

Quantum of Solace - Opening Title Sequence

Quantum of Solace

Above I have provided you with a link to the Opening Title Sequence of the Quantum of Solace so that you can see the artistic feel to it. 

Distributors and Producers

After I chose the genre: Action, I looked into Taken 2 and James Bond, which I mentioned in my previous entry, and I managed to find their Distributor and Producer.

Unfortunately, the producer of Taken 2 wasn't mentioned here, however the Domestic Total is extremely interesting as Skyfall made a significant amount of money compared to Taken 2. This could be to do with the amount of Bond films that've been made and the use of their individual title sequences, as they're very artistic and unique. 

Here I have shown a different range of the Bond title sequences, showing you the artistic and unique image that is given off to the audience. It would be extremely hard to replicate this kind of style in my final project, I will do some research into others.

Final Project

So...

We have just been given the deadlines for the final piece and I have started to gather a few ideas together and I am quite excited about it!

I have chosen to do a film in the action genre. I have chosen this because I especially like James Bond films and Taken 2...they're both full of suspense and great to watch.

I have done some research into Taken 2 and they use a lot of MS, which I found...

Both of these shots that I have selected use MS's. The second image uses a focus pull to show Liam Neeson (the protagonist) in shallow focus, highlighting his role in the film, showing the audience that is an extremely significant character. 

Another reason why I would like to do a film based in the action genre, is because I have some interesting ideas for the opening sequence and the first scene. As my Uncle is a scuba diver, he knows the people who own an underwater marine pool in Tyneside area, (the location that I was thinking of using for the continuity project) which has a helicopter inside of the pool. This could be interesting to show a helicopter crash and then maybe an underwater fight scene of some description. I think would be extremely interesting.

Hopefully I will be able to gather some ideas together to make a successful storyline!

Continuity Error

Here, Luke opens the door with his LEFT HAND...

However, here he opens it with his RIGHT HAND. This clearly shows a continuity error, so on the video that I have just uploaded, I have changed that.

Stupid Me!

After uploading my video with improvements yesterday, I thought that it was all fine, however today Leanne pointed out that when Luke opens the storage door, in one shot he is opening it with his right hand and in the other the left!

I can't believe I didn't notice that as this was a continuity task :') Oh well...I am currently exporting another version from iMovie, so I am just waiting for that to finish.

I will also upload some screen shots 

Here is the improved version, number 2! ...

Solitude With Titles

Solitude With Improvements

I have added to Solitude with the improvements that Mr Earl suggested, which is below. The improvements that I made were:

- At 1:02 I have slightly changed the light so that it matches in with the before and after clips, however it is not exact. 

- When you suggested to use a CU of Luke when he at the door, I didn't have anymore footage, so that wasn't possible. 

- at 1:30, I changed the exposure to give a more realistic effect when Luke unties Jess from the chair. 

Here is the improved version...

Now, I am going to add some titles to it and upload it again to show you where I used the continuity factors.

Notes From Solitude

Solitude Evaluation

Solitude has proved to be a great success, even though there were a few hiccups along the way. I had planned out two full scenes and during scene 1; it was the detective and the D.C. talking about the situation, getting ready to investigate. On the day that I was planning to film that, I was unwell and was unable to start scene one. To overcome this, I used a voiceover whilst D.C. Brocklesby was searching the woodland area and I personally think this was more effective as it created suspense for the audience and it enabled them to reflect on the current situation. Scene two was also changed in parts, due to the unavailability on some locations on the site that I used. I was planning on using a large building/storage area, so that D.C. Brocklesby could search the building and then come across the missing person, however on the day, the building was unavailable, so I had to change the plans slightly. I included a blue Peugeot 207, however that was parked outside the building that I was originally using, yet it doesn’t work, therefore I was unable to move it and use it in scene 2, so that also changed my plans. Instead of using the large building, I used a store cupboard, which worked well as their was a metal cover it, which implied that something could be behind it that is important and only the key holder can get it. When D.C. Brocklesby came across it, he found that it was open and he lifted off the cover and entered, finding the missing female. This also worked better as it more realistic in terms of having the door covered with something.

As this task was a continuity task, I made sure that I included most parts of it including: 180 degree rule, shot reverse shot and constant mise en scene, such as the clothing etc.

Whilst filming the SRS, I didn’t realise that I’d done in the wrong way round to what is normally done, however after watching some soaps such as Coronation Street, it shows that it can be done in different ways. When you show the back of someone’s head and then the front of another person, the person who has the back of the head to the camera can be talking, like I used in my video, however normally the person with their face to the camera usually talks. It is also used in the Coronation Street clip that I gave an example of on my blog. It all depends on how the director wants to show the characters emotions and after looking at my video, it fits in well as you can see the intent emotion on the D.C.’s face as the female is talking to him.

Some other problems that occurred during filming/editing were the lighting. When I was filming the scene inside the storage cupboard, the lighting seemed fine on the camera, however when I transferred the footage onto my laptop, I couldn’t see people’s faces, which was a problem as the emotion was therefore unidentifiable by the audience. In conclusion to this, I used a effect called Raster and I changed the brightness of each individual clip.    

Another problem, which occurred, was the sound. During scene 2 in the dialogue part, the voices were extremely quiet on the actual computer, so I had to turn each dialogue clips volume up to as high as it would go, thus allowing the voices/dialogue to be heard. As I did this, the rest of the clip therefore got louder, and the part where D.C. Brocklesby turns around you can hear his footsteps extremely clearly, however they’re very loud. I tried to turn part of the clip down, so that the footsteps were quiet, however that wasn’t possible, so I then cut the dialogue out from the footstep part and just made it start afterwards. Now thinking about it, I could actually split the clip and then turn the sound down in the clip with the footsteps and then just turn up the other clip – GENIOUS!

I am extremely pleased with the finished product and I personally think that it is a very professional video, apart from the few minor lighting problems etc, however I think that an audience would enjoy watching it as the music and sound effects give it more realistic and enjoyable effect.

Solitude

Continuity Errors In Corrie

Whist having tea, I was watching Coronation Street and I spotted some continuity errors in the different parts.

Here in the scene, the baby is asleep, however when the shot changes to a BCU, then back to a MS/Two Shot, the baby is not...

Further towards the end of the episode, there is a SRS, however it is used the wrong way around...

Normally, Leanne would be talking, however in this shot Ken is talking, which shows that the SRS is the wrong way round. As the scene continues, the SRS keeps changing positions whilst Ken is talking...

Personally, I think that the SRS was used the wrong way round to show Ken's emotions towards the situation, however it could have been shown in the same way by using the SRS in the correct way.

Just thought i'd let you guys know that I noticed!

Hope you're proud :')

Editing

I have got half way through with editing so far and I will hopefully get it finished by Thursday and then I will be able to evaluate.

Whilst filming, I had one crew member, Joanne Dowson, taking stills and notes. The only problem is, the camera that she used is an actual photography camera, however it isn't mine and when I went to put my pictures on my laptop yesterday to upload onto my blog, I found that there wasn't a lead with the camera to transfer the images across. I was planning on using those during the evaluation process, as Mr Earl suggested, however that's not going to be possible.

I do, however have the notes that she took and therefore can use those during the evaluation, rather than the images. I will hopefully get my evaluation done in Friday's lesson and then my video will also be uploaded.

Footage

Filming went well on Saturday, however when it came to filming the shot/reverse/shot, I somehow managed to do it the wrong way round! Instead of having the person who's face you could see talking, I have the person with their back to the camera speaking - silly me.

Well, I guess everything is learning curve and I understand where I went wrong. 

Also, I was meant to film scene 1 yesterday, however I wasn't well at all and therefore wasn't able to film. I have come up with a solution to this and I am going to try and include a voice over at the start of the sequence to sum up scene 1 in a way that won't confuse the audience and thus meeting the criteria for the task...

I am going to try and crack on with some more editing now, however I think a sleep is in order soon to make myself feel better!

The joys of being ill - eurgh.

Filming today

Looking forward to filming today...hope everything goes to plan! 
Just going to get ready to go and film :)))

Solitude Storyboard

Excited!

Sooo excited to film on Saturday! I have handed out the scripts and call sheets to my actors/actress and I am really looking forward to filming this and editing it :)))

Crew Call Sheet

Crew Call Sheet

Programme Title: Solitude

Director and Producer: Kathryn Dowson

Crew

Camera: You will need a stills camera (photography camera), filming camera and a tripod

Lighting: You will need to bring along a torch incase the lighting is a problem in the building

Props: You’re in charge to carry props and ensure that everyone has their correct props

Meeting at: Directors house

Location Venue: Battle Stations Paintball

Call Date: Saturday 17^th November

Call time: 12:45 – to ensure everything is in order before the actors/actresses arrive

INSTRUCTIONS: DO NOT FORGET A NOTE PAD TO TAKE NOTES WITH. You will be in charge of the note making when we are filming and also taking the stills images, so that I can evaluate them post-production.

ANY QUESTIONS PLEASE CONTACT ME DIRECTLY

Finalised Date For Shooting

Finally, I have managed to arrange to film on Saturday 17th November. Fingers crossed that will still go ahead and I will update you if anything changes.

I have also managed to find a whiteboard which is at my Uncle's house. I will probably film that scene either later on the Saturday after filming Scene 2, or on the Sunday when there will be just David and Luke present, saving Jessica having to wait around.

Please let me know what you think of the Call Sheet and script - feedback much appreciated!

Because I have another member of the crew, my Mum (Joanne Dowson), I am going to have to create a Crew Call Sheet for her! Honestly, haha.

Actors Call Sheet

Actors Call Sheet

Programme Title: Solitude

Director and Producer: Kathryn Dowson

Call Date: Saturday 17^th November

Actor	Character	Call Time	Wardrobe	Make-up
Luke Brocklesby	D.C. Brocklesby	1pm	Scene 1: (filming on separate day, or later on the Saturday) A smart black suit – white shirt, black tie and smart shoes Scene 2: camouflage overall - provided by paintballing, mobile or radio – I will look into getting a radio, but please bring a phone anyway	N/A
David Dowson	Chief Inspector	1pm	Scene 1: (filming on separate day, or later on the Saturday) A smart black suit – white shirt, black tie and smart shoes	N/A
Jessica Hay	Missing Female	1pm	Scene 2: A green top and dark jeans – any shoes, as long as they’re what you would wear on a daily basis – You will also need to have curled hair	Normal make-up, however it will be slightly smudged as if you have been handled in an unreasonable manner – this can be done on the day. Please bring your make up with you and I will help create the effect.

Location venue: Battle Stations Paintball, Wynyard

Transport: David and Jessica will receive arranged transport; Luke Brocklesby will need to meet us at the location

INSTUCTIONS: Luke, please make sure that you are at the location for 1pm, as there will be an extremely tight schedule and we will need to stick to it. When we arrive at the location, please be aware that there may still be members of the public present, so don’t worry if the filming doesn’t start immediately, however please bare in mind, once filming is underway, the schedule will be tight. Warm clothing will be required as we will be out in the open for a long period of time.

Solitude Script

SCENE 1 (Investigation Suite, Int. Day)

Inside. D.C. Brocklesby (Luke Brocklesby) and Chief Inspector Dowson (David Dowson) are inside the investigation suite, and the Chief Inspector is describing the situation to the D.C.

Chief Inspector

(Pointing at the whiteboard as he maps out setting and situation)

On July 16^th, an IC1 female went missing from Wynyard. She is believed to have long brown curled hair and was wearing a green top and dark jeans. She was last seen entering the vehicle of an IC1 male, aged around 20, wearing a blue hooded jacket and light coloured jeans. The car was a blue Peugeot 207. The car was last seen driving into a deserted area, surrounded by woodland. Your job today Brocklesby is to search the location for clues of the missing person.

D.C. Brocklesby

Is there anything else that will be required of me today sir?

Chief Inspector

If you find her, contact HQ immediately.

D.C. Brocklesby

What if I don’t find her sir?

Chief Inspector

At the moment, all we’ve got in an unconfirmed report, no girl of that description has been reported missing from the local area, if you don’t find anything, there’s no case. It’s all down to you Brocklesby.

D.C. Brocklesby

Thanks chief, I will begin the search right away.

SCENE 2 (Woodland area – Ext. Day and building Int. Day)

D.C. Brocklesby is in the woodland area, searching for the missing female, unsure whether she will be there. When he can’t find anything in the woodland, he takes a detour and walks out of the woods, into a deserted area, and he finds a building, which he thinks is unoccupied. Outside the building, there is a blue Peugeot 207 parked up with no one inside of it. After the D.C. checks that no one is around and watching him, he enters the building and finds that it is full of unwanted belongings and rubble. He immediately jumps the conclusion that no one would be here and thinks it’s time to turn back, however he still has his suspicions as to why the car was parked outside, wondering what he will find inside.

D.C. Brocklesby

Hello, is there anyone there?

 At that moment, he sees a figure in the corner of the building. As he approaches the figure, it is a female tied to a chair, matching the description that the chief described to him during the brief. He looks around to check no one is here and approaches the female.

D.C. Brocklesby

There’s no need to be alarmed, my names Brocklesby, I’m a police officer. Are you ok? Are you hurt?

Female

(Her facial expressions show that she is in pain and has been there for a long period of time)

My hands, they’re numb, I can’t feel them.

D.C. Brocklesby unties her hands from behind the chair, freeing her from any discomfort.

D.C. Brocklesby

How long have you been here for?

Female

I’m not sure, a couple of days I think. The last thing I can remember is getting into a car and then I woke up here. You’ve got to help me before he comes back.

D.C. Brocklesby

Before who comes back?

Female

The man. I got into his car because he saw me alone on the street and offered to take care of me, but then he must have brought me here and I haven’t seen him since I woke up and found myself here.

D.C. Brocklesby

Can you remember anything about this man? Hair colour, anything?

Female

He had black hair. That’s all I can remember.

D.C. Brocklesby

Ok, we need to get you back to the station and get you checked over.

(At this point D.C. Brocklesby radios over to the chief and sends for help)

Chief, I’ve found a female and she meets the description you gave me. Send over some help to Wynyard woodland. We’re inside the old warehouse just off the A689.

Location Sheet

Production Schedule

Production Schedule

Programme Title: Solitude

Director and Producer: Kathryn Dowson

Production equipment required:
I will be using my own camera, which will enable me to shoot better quality footage, rather than using the schools camera. A tripod will be required for most shots, however some shots inside the woods may be taken from the searchers POV (have Luke recording as he walks). Alongside my production, Joanne Dowson, will be taking pictures of the production as we work, allowing me to have better resources when it comes to the evaluation of my finished project.

Crewing Requirements:
Luke Brocklesby will be required to hold the camera in part of the shooting, as I would like to some footage from the POV of the searcher as he is searching the woods. Joanne Dowson will need to use a photography camera to capture us in action.

Actors:
Luke Brocklesby – Searcher
David Dowson – Chief Inspector
Jessica Hay – Missing Person

Transport Requirements:
Luke Brocklesby will have to make his own way to the location that we are shooting at (Battle Stations Paintball), so he will have to time his arrival and departure right, in order to meet the tight schedule. Jessica Hay, David Dowson, Joanne Dowson and Kathryn Dowson will all be sharing a car to the location, so they will also have to plan their arrival and departure well.

Props:

-       A light may be required to help the lighting whilst shooting in the building

-       Camouflage outfit that will be provided from the location

-       A chair

-       Rope to tie hands and feet with (tying the missing person to the chair)

-       Whiteboard and pen for the first scene

-       Mobile phone that Luke Brocklesby will use when calling David Dowson in the last scene

Post Production Requirements (format, effects, music, v/o):
I’m not sure of what kind of post-production requirements that will be needed, however if and when I come across them, I will update them on my blog.

Planning Checklist

Pictures Of Paintballing Location

I will aim to get some pictures up of the actual setting/location I am going to use to give you an insight into what type of feel I am going for before I actually show you my finished production. 

Hope you will look forward to seeing those!

South Tyneside Marine College

I was just doing a little bit of research to see if I could find out my previous idea to provide you with a bit more detail of what I actually meant and this is what I found:

Environmental Pool

Our 18 metre x 10 metre, 4 metre deep environmental pool is used for survival training. It is equipped with a variable wave pattern generator, wind, rain, light and sound effects.

The following are located within the pool area:

• 8 seater helicopter escape module, capable of being used to simulate dry, wet and capsize situations
• Helicopter winching arrangements
• Davit-launched liferaft equipment
• A range of marine and aviation liferafts
• Survival suits, lifejackets and associated survival equipment
• Indoor offshore wind turbine transfer simulator

Research

I was actually just trying to find some examples that i'd watched to try and understand shot/reverse shot a bit more which i'd watched on coronation street, however I came across some great behind the scene footage of Sophie's accident. 

It shows the 180 degree rule as all of the cameras are all on one side, not crossing the imaginary line! (woop, I spotted it!)

http://www.itv.com/coronationstreet/videos/backstage/crashdramafilmingsecrets/

ACTUAL Idea - Continuity Task

After focusing on the idea of having a storyline of a missing person, I began to think about using a more isolated location, fitting in better with the actual storyline.

My boyfriend, Luke Brocklesby, used to work at a paint balling site called Battle Stations Paintball in Wynyard. I used to go to work with him every Saturday and I got to know the area extremely well, getting behind the scenes and being aloud to enter secret buildings/storage areas that were shut off to the public which was interesting!

After Luke stopped working at Paint balling, he still kept in touch with the owner, Andy. As soon as I thought of using a woodland/country location, I immediately got in touch with Andy and I asked whether it would be possible to use Battle Stations Paintball and he has no objections, which was great news - he saw it as free advertising!

Before I asked permission from Andy, I planned out the storyline and basic narrative because I was really getting into the swing of planning my ideas! Now the moment you've all been waiting for...dun, dun, DUUUN.

So...

At the start of the clip, I am going to have a typical police investigation setting in a office type area, with a white board marking out the situation of the missing person. There will be two people in that room, the head of the investigation (if you like, chief inspector kind of thing) and then the person who will actually be doing the searching of the missing person. 

After the searcher has been debriefed on the current situation, they will be shown walking through an isolated woodland area, dodging trees, trying to find the missing individual. I will then switch to another part of the location where the searcher comes across a building. As he enters (Opens a door - action match) the building, he begins to search amongst the rubble and unwanted belongings and much to his surprise, he finds the missing person tied to a chair. At this point, this is when the two exchange dialogue (shot/reverse shot) as the person is sat on the chair and the searcher is either stood up or crouching infront of the missing person. The searcher rings the chief to come to the location and recue the person and this is where the sequence ends.

The 180 degree rule will either be covered when the searcher is walking through the woodland area, or when they are searching the building that they enter.

I am not sure on my actors/actresses yet, which I am going to plan in tomorrow's lesson, however I hope you like the idea that I have come up with! 

Let me know what you think :))

Planning Initial Ideas - Continuity Task

Tonight, I have spent most of my time: sitting, thinking, sitting, thinking a bit more, and sitting. I was mainly thinking about my storyline for the media video, but hay-ho!

Alongside sitting and thinking, I went to my Aunty's to get my hair cut and whilst I was there I put forward the media task that we have been asked to do to address our knowledge on continuity. My Uncle owns his own scuba diving business, and he suggested that maybe I could do something using either the sea or the pool that he uses to teach people in. My Uncle also owns a underwater camera, so this would be perfect. After he suggested this, I was unsure where the dialogue would fit in, however when I mentioned this to him, he suggested that we could use his underwater notepad and wax crayons to actually write out the dialogue underwater, instead of actually speaking it, which I thought was pretty awesome! Anyway, after he mentioned this, he came out with a much more exciting idea of using the Marine College's pool in the South Tyneside area and in the college there is a pool that turns into a fake storm scene and I was thinking up a storyline to base it around a storm underwater and I came up with a storyline of having someone go missing and the storyline could be people searching for them.

After cooking up numerous ideas, I came across problems. I thought about the lighting and how during a storm it would be rather dark and dingy, so the lighting could be a problem. Also, because South Tyneside is quite a journey, although I could get there, it would be very time consuming.

As more and more ideas began to flow, I moved away from the idea of basing my location around water and more around woodland/country settings. 

I have actually come up a finalised idea, and I have managed to research into it and request permission and I shall now enlighten you with my idea in my next blog entry! 

Hope you enjoy :))

New Task

ARGH! I am struggling on an idea for the next task, and I am still thinking :( 

Hopefully I will have something by Thursday. I will have a chat to friends and family, and see if I can come up with a finalised idea.

I have a slight idea, however I am not going to mention it yet until I have set my mind on it! 

You shall all have to wait! Muhaha. 

Reflection On My Animatic Storyboard

Throughout my research into the horror genre looking at the opening sequences, I came across many references to blood and gore, however most of the opening sequences that I watched had a storyline, each building up to something. In Dexter, the opening sequence uses non-diagetic sound to create suspense during the sequence, however it is all building up to the end of the sequence where it shows the protagonists face - this is why I based my opening sequence in the same way so that it built up to something in the end (Paris Hilton finds something she doesn't expect). The True Blood opening sequence also built up a sense of suspense because towards the end of it, the non-diagetic sound began to get faster and more intense, allowing the audience to relate to the horror genre. Although the True Blood opening sequence didn't include diagetic sound, Dexter did and I thought that was more effective as it allowed a more personal approach to the program as the audience were then able to engage in the setting more. 

The title that I chose to use was extremely ironic as nothing was 'Innocent' about my opening sequence, apart from the young women (Paris Hilton), however it was ambiguous to what kind of life she'd had and what was going to happen next in the actual series of Innocent. 

On top of my opening sequence research, I also did some research into the type of channels that would show horror shows and what institution would likely air my program. FX mainly aires British horror dramas, however in the US, CBS aires them. So, if my program was to be aired, then I would use the institution FX (if only that would actually happen!)

Hope you enjoyed my animatic storyboard, even though it kind of turned into a trailer in the end! Oh well...thanks for watching :))

Revelation!

I've just realised that if I minus the bit at the end of my animatic storyboard where it says 'coming soon' and then add titles/credits of directors etc., then it would appear more like an opening sequence!

Silly me!

Oops! I don't even know what I was thinking...i've made a trailer instead of an opening sequence.

When I was making the opening sequence, I was thinking to myself that I was making an opening sequence, however when I look back to it now, I was actually making a trailer!

Crazy, I know.

Oh well, I have still got a good understanding of the codes and conventions used in a horror opening sequence! 

Sorry about that, hope it doesn't matter :(