Progression

Here is an example of match on action. 

Me going towards the door.

 Me opening the door.

 Me entering the room.

 We also used shot-reverse-shot and the 180 degree rule.

For our preliminary task we successfully used the 180 degree rule, match on action and the shot/reverse shot rule. From learning this I also applied this into our opening sequence. We used the 180-degree rule and shot/reverse shot during the conversation between Barry and Louis.

We used match-on-action when Ryan walked towards the tree and then came round the other side.

                                       

Technology

Apple iMac


The iMac was what contained the programs and applications that we used to plan/create/evaluate our opening sequence.

Camera


The camera was what we used to record our footage for our preliminary task and our opening sequence. We used multiple cameras for the different days that we filmed. We used the camera in combination with the tripod.

Tripod


A physical stand that we used to perform different things with the camera. We used it mainly for panning   and keeping the camera still.

Live Type


This was the program we used to create the titles 'The Leap Year' for our opening sequence.

Youtube


A free video distribution/sharing website. This is what we used to upload and distribute our opening sequence.

Google


This is the search engine we used for all of our planning and research.

Facebook


This is another website we used for research/planning. We posted a survey on Facebook for members of the public to take.

Final Cut


This is the program we used to edit our entire opening sequence. We also used it to add sound effects to the titles and add music to the recorded footage.

iMovie


We imported our file from Final Cut into iMovie in order to upload our opening sequence onto Youtube. We also used iMovie to create and edit our director's commentary.

iTunes


We used iTunes to purchase the song for our opening sequence 'Macho man'

Blogger


I used Blogger to evidence everything that I have done during this course.

Survey Monkey


We used survey monkey to create a survey which we used as research for our opening sequence.

Photoshop

We used Photoshop to create our company logo.

Representations

Louis from 'The Leap Year' is very comparable to Phil from 'The Hangover' for many reasons. Firstly, they both seem to act the same way when they realise that they have woken up drunk in a strange location. They both play it rather cool until they discover that what they have done has lead to something bad happening.  Secondly, they both are really mean to the people they consider their friends. In The Hangover Phil tries to tell all of his friends how to act and all want them to act like him. He is quite inconsiderate to other people's feelings. Louis is the exact same. He doesn't really try to help his friend Barry when he discovers that he is taped to a tree. Also, he is inconsiderate about Barry's feelings because he sleeps with his sister. This type of character is quite common in comedy films and seems to represent the person in a group of friends who people don't really consider a friend.

Question 3

We (Mooooooooon Productions) are a production company. A production company creates the film in its entirety. A film distributer is someone that buys the film from the production company and sells the film.

A distributor that we have used is Youtube. The reason we went with Youtube is because our film is small budget and is not likely to make a lot of profit. Youtube is a free distributor and is an easy way to release our film. If our film was of a higher budget and we were looking to make profit we could go with a British distributor such as Entertainment film. This would be a good idea because they are an independent film's company and often release independent films made by small production companies such as ourself.

The distribution company would release our film in either the cinema or on DVD. Whatever revenue was gained from this a percentage would go to the distribution company and a percentage would go to our production company. Since our film is very niche and independent we have put the names of our actors. Even though we are not well known we may be known to people of our community who are more likely to see the film. 

Conventions

These screenshots show how we have tried to stick to the conventions of the comedy genre.

1. The title of the film


The title The Leap Year sticks to the conventions of comedy because it's short and sweet and easy to remember. It's not a complicated title and it gets to the point. Comedy films tend to have very short titles and often start with the word 'the'. This is similar to comedy films such as 'The Hangover' and 'The Big Lebowski.'

2. Setting/location


For our opening sequence we have used a situation which makes the audience think what has happened to cause this? That is why the location of the opening sequence is a park. This is similar to comedy films like 'The Hangover' and 'Dude where's my car?'

3. Costumes and props


 We used props such as party poppers to represent what had happened previously, before the opening sequence began. This again would make the audience think 'how did they get here' a reoccurring theme in comedy theme.

4. Camerawork and editing


This screenshot is when Louis fell out of a tree. It was a close up of Ryan when he fell but zoomed out into a long shot. This is similar to other comedy films and is knows as 'physical humour.' The zoom out is used to show the pain that Louis is in and makes the audience laugh.

5. Title Font and Style


The font colour is yellow and the font type is Arial Rounded MT bold. This font is very informal and is supposed to be inviting to the audience. It contrasts that of romance films and thriller films.

6. Story and how the opening suggests it


The story involves the characters trying to find out what they did the previous night and how it led to the current events. This is shown by Barry being taped to a tree. The audience would want to know how he got in this situation and would want to watch on. It is also shown when Louis says "are you insinuating that I slept with your sister?" That would make the audience want to watch on because they would want to find out if he did or not.

7. Genre and how the opening suggest it


We use a lot of comedy in the opening sequence to make it obvious to the audience that the genre is comedy. Some examples of these are: Louis falling from the tree, Barry taped to a tree, the flashbacks, etc. The picture shows an element of comedy because the position implies Louis and Barry having sex.

8. How characters are introduced


Louis is introduced as the smarter character but also not a kind character. This is shown during the conversation when he doesn't try to help Barry and he leaves Barry taped to a tree after remembering that he slept with her sister. Barry is introduced as a not very smart character. This is shown when he doesn't realise that he is taped to a tree and only cares about a cup of tea even though he's at the park. Also, he is gullible as he is convinced by Barry that he has a fear when in actuality he doesn't. This also shows how mean Louis is to Barry.

9. Special Effects


We used special effects during the flashbacks. This was to show that something has happened in the story before the film started. This was for comedic effect but also to show that this may be explored later in the film.

How did we attract our target audience?

Evaluation - Target audience

Dave is an 18 year old student. He likes to watch TV and surf the internet on a regular basis.  He dresses casualy and doesn't try to impress. When he listens to music he listens to rock or cheesy pop music. He often watches films and his favourite genre is comedy. He likes watching comedy films that involve alcohol because of the wacky antics the characters get up to and he can relate to the film because he enjoys drinking alcohol. 

Filming - Monday 23rd January - Day 1

Today we went out to a park to film the main scene of our opening sequence. We had very limited time to film (2 hours) but tried to get as much filmed as possible. Unfortunately when we got to the park we found that our camera had to charge. To remedy this we sent Ryan to quickly go and get another camera. When we returned we managed to film for about 30 minutes but managed to get quite a lot done. We managed to film all of Louis' (Ryan Kent) parts before he realises that Barry (me) is taped to a tree. This included what was probably the hardest part: Louis falling out of the tree. Tomorrow we will go back and get the rest of the park scene filmed.

Costume List

Louis


Jeans - Blue
Converse
Shirt - Red
Tie on the head

Barry


Jeans - Blue
T-shirt - Blue
Trainers
Mask

Party Extras


Casual wear
Jeans
Shirts/t-shirts
Dull/dark colours will be used to make Barry and Louis stand out.

Updated Screenplay

New Version of the Leap Year

Storyboard

Today our group finished our storyboard for our opening sequence.

Screenplay

Today we finished our second draft of the screenplay.

Leap Year