Saffron's Evaluation

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Joe's Evaluation

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Harriet's Evaluation

Media evauation

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Group Evaluation For Our Childrens Film Opening Sequence.

We used a lot of suitable conventions for both a children's film opening sequence and the genre we chose (fantasy). We opened with some establishing shots of our main character, beginning to reveal his image and personality. The audience are informed of the location; bright and sunny area to relate to 'Jimmy's' happy and playful nature. It is also set at a school, which children are familiar with. We also included opening credits, however they could have been improved to match the typical conventions of an opening sequence, and related more to the style of the film.
We used certain moments in the narrative of our opening sequence to specify it to our genre. This included our main character talking to a burger through his imagination. The unnaturalistic elements within it, allow it to follow the typical conventions of a fantasy genre.
We used a wide range of different shots within our opening sequence which were essential on presenting certain aspects, eg, reaction shot of the characters face to emphasise the absurdity of the situation, and close ups of the burger to alert the audience of the importance of it in relation to the rest of the mise-en-scene. On the other hand, we could have made the camerawork more steady, and improve on the continuity (because some parts appear to 'jump' between shots) to make it look more professional.
We didn't use much special effects in our opening sequence, however the talking burger could have been made by CGI instead of manually. If we had the equipment and time, we would have chosen to use this to make it to a more professional standard, as although we got the basic impression right, there was obvious string used which makes it look unprofessional.

Peer Feedback For Our Childrens Film Opening Sequence.

Conventions on opening sequence

• Follows typical opening sequence conventions using establishing shot
• Uses establishing shot
• Establishes main character

Specific genre conventions

• Follows fantasy genre with a talking box
• Track shots
• Good at establishing fantasy genre

Variety and quality of camera work

• Good shots and variety of shots
• Good use of shots to highlight action, could have used close ups
• Good variety of shots

Use of special effects (animations)

• Managed to make box look like its talking
• Good effects
• Good talking box however string was obvious

Sound

• Clear sound throughout
• Clear music but repetitive and gets boring
• Clear soundtrack and fade
• Bit jumpy but clear

Use of mise-en-scene

• Location- college, where its meant to be 
• Good use of surroundings and character props
• Props- glasses, bag,talking burger
• Costume was amazing

Editing

• Good continuity
• Good transistions and continuity 
• Good continuity but could be a little smoother
• Good continuity but could of used improvement

Best Features

• Use of emphis, when he hugged the tree
• Props 
• Everything, mainly tree

Our Childrens Film Opening Sequence- Jimmy And His Wild Mind.

Lucy’s children’s film opening sequence homework.

Snow White and the seven dwarfs..

The Walt Disney logo is shown before any opening credits, this instantly put forwards that the film is aim at the target audience of children (‘U’, ‘PG’) this is closely followed by the theme tune and credits that a Walt Disney feature production presents ‘Snow White and the seven dwarfs’. The theme tunes is an old band giving the feeling that the film is set in a later period of time (1973) the theme tunes also gives a general introduction that it’s a fantasy film. As the credits fade and the theme tune caries on, the book appears and opens, this is a image that children should be familiar of, maybe with their parents reading them stories, it straight away is a welcome to the children watching. The text of the book inside is interesting and large so it’s easy to read, with use of colours and images, like a children’s fantasy story book. There is lots of time for children to read the two pages themselves with the theme tunes still going. The book gives a opening to the film, however once the book is faded and the castle is shown, this is an establishing shot and it is soon clear that the plot is then shown in the opening sequence, this means that children who cant read don’t have to worry about reading the plot on the book. The plot of the film is a typical fantasy there consists of a princess and an evil stepmother (Queen) this is shown very clearly as the characters are introduced, the evil stepmother is using her dark powers of a well know spell (mirror, mirror on the wall) to find out who she needs to get rid of to be the fairest of them all. You can see that Snow White (princess) is being made a slave by the Queen and is having to scrub the floors on her hands and knees, this sets the date of the film that is was set in, as children know a days are not so familiar of people being made to hand scrub floors by there ‘evil’ stepmothers. Spite the fact that Snow White is being made a slave, she is singing and humming a tune with a smile on her face. You can hear the diegetic sound of the water splashing onto the floor and the squeak of the bucket being lifted out of the well. The use of a talking mirror and that Snow White is talking to the doves and they nod in reply shows an obvious genre of fantasy. To complete the fantasy a prince is intruded using a panning shot on his white stallion, whilst Snow White is wishing down the wishing well for the one she loves.

HARRIET - Genres & Their Conventions.

FANTASY:
Can be stories that involve beings and events that could not exist in real life. These works may begin realistically but soon turn into stories that could never really happen.
There are three types of fantasy. High fantasy, where the 'epic type hero saves the world', game related fantasy, which are stories based on a movie or video game, and historical fantasy, including magic set it a past era or age.
Conventions include:
- talking animals
- magical powers
- medieval universe setting
- mythical beings
- time travel

ACTION:
Usually involves heroes or heroines who are forced into a series of challenges that require physical feats and skills to accomplish. Most of the time there are two-dimentional 'good-guy' heroes or heroines battling 'bad-guys'. Dramatic special effects is often used alongside fast pace music.
Conventions include:
- physical stunts
- high energy chases
- rescues
- battles
- fights
- escapes
- destructive crises
- explosions (pyrotechnics)
- gunplay

ADVENTURE:
Usually exciting stories, with new experiences or exotic locales.
Conventions include:
- unknown, erotic setting (the wilderness)
- solving puzzles
- evade traps
- quest/journey/exploration (searching for lost city or hidden treasure)
- fighting for justice
- suspense and dangerous situations
- pirates

Joe's Children Film Work

Before 'Up' begins, it is immediately established as a children's film as the distributors logo appears (Disney Pixar) and is an iconic image in children's films. The film uses CGI animation, as is shown at the begins of the sequence, so it again resembles children's films. This is because kids are generally more entertained with animated people or objects doing un-naturalistic things e.g balloons flying a house. The opening sequence of 'Up' begins to tell a story of a magical lost land and an explorer attempting to find it. This is a stereotypical scenario of a children's film as it consists of unrealistic behaviour and allows children to relate to and use the melo-dramatic imaginations. The scene proceeds to introducing our first character, Carl, a little boy who is watching the cinema screen in fascination. He is already established as the main character of the film as he his presented as a boy with a dream, almost foreshadowing him accomplishing his dream as the film commences. He commits to the conventional propp's character type used in children's film, in his cute image and shy personality and is almost seen as the 'hero' of the film. We are later introduced to another character, Ellie, a tomboy who immediately develops a relationship with Carl. The opening sequence continues with a flash of images of the two characters growing up together, getting married etc. Amongst this sequence the use of non-diegetic sound is very iconic for a children's film. The music contrasts between happy and sad melodies played over the top of the sequence and depending on the emotion in the scene.  It allows the audience to feel as the characters may feel, and particularly feel sympathetic at the point at which Ellie dies of old age. Sound in a children's film is vital in creating an atmosphere, in which the young audience can relate to.

HARRIET - Discussing Introduction To Main Characters In Childrens Films. (EXTRA RESEARCH)

"Think of a memorable character from a children's film and find the scene when they are first introduced to the audience. Analyse what makes them memorable - make reference to editing, sound, camerawork, mise-en-scene, and make links to open sequence conventions."

TOY STORY - BUZZ LIGHTYEAR


When 'Buzz Lightyear' is first brought into the film, the audience doesn't actually know. There is a child's birthday party in which 'Buzz' is one of the presents. However, the film-makers hide this fact until a few minutes later, to build suspension, and to also build up the storyline. We can tell, however, that the present is something big, as all the children scream and shout, as well as gather round 'Buzz' so that the camera shot can't see what it is. Then comes the drama which the toys have in the bedroom when they are so desperate to hear what is in the present, that 'Rex' knocks the walkie talkie off the bedside table, creating an outrage between the toys as they now do not know what this present consists of! During this time, the audience is left wondering what is going to happen. There is then a lot of excitement shown as they take 'Buzz' to the birthday boys' bedroom. They enter, and the following camera shots are all low, showing only the rush of their feet around the room, building even more tension. We can only then guess the childrens' facial expressions, as we hear them talking about lots of things which seem "cool", about this 'Buzz' toy. As they are all children, they pretend that 'Buzz' is not a toy, and pretend that 'Buzz's' "spaceship" lands on his bed. This is when we see him for the first time. We only get a quick glance of his packaging here, though, before the camera concentrates back on the kids again. There is then a roaming shot of the room, silent and messy after having been invaded by the children. 'Woody', 'Andy's' supposedly favourite toy, had got knocked off and his "place" on the bed taken by 'Buzz'. As 'Woody' climbs back onto the bed, a soundtrack for 'Buzz's' introduction starts to play, and the camera zooms out from 'Woody's' face to find 'Buzz's' legs. The camera moves up 'Buzz's' body, ending in a high angle shot, which makes 'Buzz' look inferior to 'Woody'. This portrays 'Woody' to be the 'badie', and 'Buzz' to be the 'goodie'. However, he has his hands on his hips and a cheesy smile as to make 'Buzz' look like he's intimidating the other toys. A point of view shot puts us in 'Buzz's' shoes, making us see this- that he is 'above' everyone else. He then shows off his 'features', and these shown on 'Buzz' are ones that all children would love, engaging them in the film further. They want to be able to believe in the movie itself.
All the characters involved in the opening sequence are children, with their family, and typical toys. Children can relate to these easily as most will be familiar with the family relationships and with toys such as those involved in the movie.

HARRIET - Analysis Of Childrens Film Opening Sequence Conventions.

"Pick and analyse one children's film opening sequence conventions. Discuss what the opening sequence involves and how it fits in with the genre."

PINOCCHIO

1940

Pinocchio begins with the producer name and the opening credits in coloured lettering, which continues the same throughout the whole of the introduction sequence. The lettering is easy to read, therefore children who are learning or can read, will be able to recognise the letters and/or words quite easily. Also, the background for these slides is made to look like wood- one of the main aspects of the film. It is illustrated with images to do with the film, such as scissors and cotton wool reels, which have been supposedly ‘carved out’ of the background of wood. The soundtrack music during this is soft and calm, and is a song about ‘wishes’- which children can easily relate to, as when you’re young, you believe in making wishes on stars- just as the song says. After about a minute, the opening credits come to a close by a fade transition. The next scene starts with the movie name, written on a book. The audience are attracted to this out of the whole mis-en-scene as it is the first thing that the fade fades out of. The rest of this shot includes other books, with titles that the audience should be able to relate to (current childrens’ films), such as ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and ‘Peter Pan’. The attention is then drawn to a small character, the first we are introduced to, as he makes slight movements to catch the eye, and a spotlight is then focused on him. The camera then slowly zooms in to the character, and we can see that he is the voice of the song that we thought was a soundtrack. He looks like a friendly character, which children will like. There is the aspect of fantasy, as he is able to talk, and do such strange things for such a small creature (such as opening the big book). He tells a story in which it is told in the book, creating surrealism. Most children read, or get read, books often, and know that they only consist of pictures and text, and that movement/video inside a book is practically impossible. This is another childrens’ convention- children like to read or be read books, and that is exactly what ‘Jiminy Cricket’ does at the start of this film, as well as singing- children also enjoy being sung to. It then goes onto describing a village at night; "sleepy, old town". 'Jiminy' is then in the frame, and there is a point of view shot as he bounces towards the toyshop. The shots of inside the toyshop would really interest a child, as the majority love toys, but have probably never been in a toyshop. As 'Jiminy' says, "being in a strange place like that, [he] didn't know what to expect!" The audience may be feeling the same. The humour is aimed at children- when he warms 'himself' up infront of the fire (which most children will also be able to relate to). The shot of the clocks, the shot of the music boxes, and the shot of the selves of toys, will be inspiring to children as they will be able to recognise the objects, but may not be lucky enough to have the experiences from them. The puppet is then made the main focus, something quite special to children. The cat which then appears, 'miaowing', and the fish in the fishtank, allows the audience to connect them to some of the everyday animals which they may have in their lives themselves. Painting of the puppet happens, which is something nearly all children love doing. As the last lines have been pained on the wooden puppet, creating a smile, every other character smiles, somewhat bringing a smile to the audiences faces, too. This is just the childrens' conventions in the opening sequence of this movie, but I believe that the animation cartoon is the best way for a film to attract children; it makes it a lot more interesting to watch.

Saffrons Childrens Film Homework.

Toy story begins by having the iconic distrubution logo of the Walt Disney Castle, which immediately meets the expectations of the target audience of young children as they know it will be a good quality family film, also that it is rated a 'U' or 'PG', which is then followed by the well known Pixar Animated Studios logo. There is then a cut to a panning shot which seems mysterious as there a various cardboard boxes which have been made into buildings, much like a small child would be doing at home for fun, so they can relate to this, then out of the blue one of the characters 'Mr Potato Head' which shows the children he's being played with by a young child, so they can also relate to this as they will most likely have played with toys like this at home and enjoy it. The child in the film ( Andy ) when he is playing with the toys he makes it clear that there is a protagonist, and antagonist within his imaginary play time. At about 2 minutes in, there is the beginning of the title sequence, the font is just simple, and white, which is fine for a childrens film, as they can clearly see it and it doesnt need to be fancy when they are in a mind set of playtime. Straight after it says Walt Disney Pictures there is a shot where it shows the young boy 'Andy' and he is dressed up like the toy he is holding, 'Woody' and this can also be related back to the target audience as young children regualary dress up as their icon, or hero/heroine etc.

Our Childrens Film Opening Sequence Planning.

Risk Assessment

'The Burger' Character

Shot List

Our Ideas

British Board Of Film Classification.

The (BBFC) British Board of Film Classification is an independant, non governmental body, that has been classifying cinema films since 1912, and has been setting guidelines for video work. The BBFC watches and classifys films and videoworks, making sure they stick to the quidelines which they have also set up as they feel some things may be unsuitable or inappropriate for certain age groups.


'U' has to make sure it is suitable for age four and over. It has to be set with a positive moral, and ensure that all violence, threat or horror, is counterbalanced. Any discrimination or discriminative behavior is not allowed. No references to any drugs are allowed, and it must contain a anti-drug message towards to target audience. There should be mild scary scenes which are short and the outcome must be reassuring. No behaviour which children may be tempted to copy is permitted. There must be only occasional nudity, with no sexual contact,if any it should be very mild eg. kissing, holding hands, and if needed there should only be references to making love. Its essential that only very mild bad language is used.
'PG' is known for being viewed but some scenes may be unsuitable for young children. A 'PG' should not discomfort or cause any disturbance to any children ages 8 or younger. Although parents are advised that if they feel that any of the content may be unsuitable for their child. Discriminative language or behaviour is extremely unlikely to be unacceptable unless its for an educational purposes. References to illegal drugs or drug misuse must also carry a positive message about anti-drugs. Scary or frightening scenes but be short and not intense. There must not be any potential bad behaviour that children may be likely to copy. There should only be mild bad language, and natural nudity, containing no sexual context, sexual contact may be implied making sure its only moderate, and infrequent. Must contain very moderate violence, without any detail, and no infliction on pain or injury.
'12A' is a category which is only been made for cinema films. No one younger then 12 is legally allowed to see a '12A' film unless accompanied by an adult. Both '12' and '12A' are classified with the same criteria, which in general is suitable for ages 12 and above. No child that is younger then 12 may but rent or watch a '12' rated video work. The Guidelines make sure that only moderate language is allowed, and any need of the use of strong language must be rarely used. Also any dicrimminative language or behaviour is not accepted unless it is clearly commended. There must also be infrequent misuse of drugs, and physical and psychological threat may be permitted as long as it is kept sustained. Sexual contact must be brief and dicsreet, and nudity is allowed. Sexual activity must be discreet and very briefly portayed within a scene. Sexual refrences must be mild and only what teenagersare suitable for. Only moderate violence allowed, with no real emphasis of, blood, and sexual violence.
'15' no one younger then 15 is allowed to watch, rent or buy a '15' rated video work. The video work must not contain any discrimminatory behaviour or language. Any dangerous behavioir should not have detail that may be copied, and can not endorse any behaviour such as, hanging, suicide, selfharming etc. Only frequent use of bad language, the occasional stronger language (eq, cunt) may only be allowed if justified by the context, and if repeated its not suitable for a '15'. Nudity is only allowed without any strong detail to sexual context, unless its educational purposes. Sexual activity is allowed to be shown without any real strong detail. Works where the purpose of sexual stimulation or arousal in generally unacceptable. No theme is endorsed unless is appropriate for 15 year olds. Violence should not dwelll on the infliction of serious injury or pain, and the stonger images like gore are unlikely to be acceptable.
'18' is only suitable for adults and no one younger than 18 is allowed to see a '18 in a cinema, and they are not allowed to rent or buy any 18' rated video works. Due to the Human Rights Acts 1998 at age 18, the BBFCs quidelines state that adults are free to have thier own opinion on the entertainment they view, althought the BBFC feels that the guideline concerns shouldnt normally override the principle. Exceptions are allowed like, sexual activity images may be allowed, and containing images of real sex, sexual explicit images, and very stong sexual images must be made to 'R18' the content thats unsuitable for 'R18' is also unacceptable for '18'.
'R18' is a special classification mainly because they are only shown to adults in specially licensed cinemas, or supplied in licensed sex shops. No material which is in breach of the law is allowed, and any sexual activity which can encourage abusive sexual behaviour is to be endorsed. Which could incluse adults role-playing as not being adults, also any sexual activity which involves having no consent is not allowed, and any infliction of pain or phyical harm, is forbidden.

These guidelines apply for trailers and advertisements, too. There must not be any adverts or trailers shown in a viewing which aren't suitable for the movie being shown. Although the content in the trailer is suitable for the classified film, it will encourage the audience to watch it (the trailer's purpose), however they will not be able to see it. This is unprofessional.

Looking at these guidelines, we decided our childrens film should be rated a 'PG'. We ensured that all the points in our opening sequence stay within the quidelines recommended for a 'PG' classified film. We feel our childrens film opening sequence does not disturb or discomfort any child under the age of 8, and that we have ensured that theres no discrimminatory language or behaviour and any violence used was extremely mild. We made sure that no bad language or threat was endorsed, and there was no sexual contact, or sexual activity within our sequence.






We wanted to get an idea of some of the characters in our film, so we researched images on the internet, so we could get an overall idea of the costume etc. This is an image we found that we wanted our main character to look like. 'Jimmy'.

Dicussing Opening Sequence Of 2 Genres- Action & Fantasy.

ACTION GENRE.

'Bolt' is a Walt Disney animation released in 2009. It is a children’s action/adventure film based on a girl and her ‘pet’ dog, which has super-real powers in which he uses to save his owner, who is in fact an actress, and believes the powers are real, and that he is a super dog. He doesn’t know the truth about what he does and why he does it until he is transported to the other side of America accidentally and has to find his way back to actually save his owner in a real life-risking situation.

The company distribution logo’s (Walt Disney) are the first images you see. This is good to have right at the beginning to inform the audience. The opening sequence starts off like a lovely family film, with shots of the dog playing, and a little girl falling in love at the sight of it, resulting in taking it home. The lack of dialogue at the start with the peaceful soundtrack makes the opening of the film seem like it will be a lovable movie. However, the action starts a couple of minutes in, after the blackout and the loud, deep boom, continued with the writing ‘5 years later’. There is then a ring of a phone, which usually either means two things: either something good or something bad. The blackouts between the two scenes of characters, along with the deep, dark music, builds tension and alerts the audience that something bad is bound to happen. The exaggerated diegetic breathing from the father tells us that he could be in danger, or that something is wrong. The next scene is then introduced, including a bit of sci-fi. Special effects are again used here, with the sounds and the lighting. The film title is soon followed, as the main character (also the film title) has just been introduced. Then there is a fast-moving chase between the antagonists and the protagonists. These are dressed as typical bad guys and good guys- although we don’t see the antagonists dressed in person much, they are dressed in black for most of the movie, the colour reminiscent of evilness. They are usually in protective gear with masks and helmets when travelling in their posh black cars and motorbikes, as well as state-of-the-art jet fighters with built-in guns. Whenever you do catch a shot of their face, their facial expressions are usually angry, also associated with the ‘evilness’. The protagonists, on the other hand, are dressed as normal, everyday people, with the backpack and shoes etc… but have specialist equipment, such as the glasses used in the chase scene to pass on necessary information. They travel by what looks like an average scooter, however has special powers such as fast speed and a gun to shoot bullets.

 Most of the scenes are based on everyday settings, which the children will be able to relate to.

Throughout the film there are many other conventions used to make it an action/adventure film, including animated pyrotechnics, and several shots of bullet time. The film is based on rescues, battles, fights and escapes, making it a strong action film.

FANTASY GENRE.
'Enchanted' is a Walt Disney film released in 2007, and is a children's adventure/fantasy film. It consists of an animated children's fairytale that ends up transferring to the real world. The opening sequence of the film uses CGI animation, representing a classic children's fairy tale. The scene uses both diegetic and non diegetic sound within the sequence. The opening shot plays a classic Walt Disney soundtrack to connote the type of film (family and fantasy) and is followed by a voice over, which is a stereotypical convention of a children's film. Within the dialogue the main character 'Gazelle' breaks into song, which is not only used to introduce other characters, but relates to children watching the film as it allows them to interact with the music and is a regular convention of a children's fairy tale. It is also used in films such as 'Shrek' and 'Cinderella'.
The first image that appears during the opening sequence is the distribution logo, which is an immediate symbolic image connoting the brand of family type film. It is followed by a series of conventional images that are all symbolic of family movies e.g a children's fairy tale book and the title sequence containing classic bold disney font.
The start pf the film sticks to Propp's Character Types in the way it consists of the antagonist and protagonist, as well as other classic character types. However, later in the film the stereotypes are subverted as our apparent damsel in distress ends up becoming the hero.






These are both 'Walt Disney' films, which tells us that that production company aims their products at children. 'Bolt' is a PG, and 'Enchanted' is a U, so therefore we know that 'Bolt' is aimed at an older market than 'Enchanted' is. Also, from the advertisement, the title as well as the picture, we can tell that the target audience for 'Enchanted' is more girls, rather than boys.

Our Preliminary Task.

From doing this preliminary task, we have learnt about different shot types and how they are formed within a movie sequence. We also had to concentrate on continuity and lighting to make it flow and look presentable. We had to edit it into a short sequence using a range of transitions and allowing it to piece together. Taking part in this task has prepared us for the real thing because we now know how to use the equipment efficiently and we won't make silly errors (such as the lighting being too dark/light). Also, we have found out which camera shots work best for different ways of capturing a character.