SAUDADE
Using the Emily Barkers song Nostalgia, we were set a brief of having to create a title sequence using only a table top and a few props to create part of a story which we felt related to the song.
After watching the title sequence Delicatessen, from 1991 created by JohnPierre Jeunet, I understood how important camerawork is to tell a story that sets the scene of a movie. My group used this title sequence as inspiration when creating our tabletop title sequence along with the song Nostalgia. My group covered a long table with a black table cloth and positioned all of our props in a unique and intricate order for people to understand our storyline. Our props included, alcohol bottles, old newspapers, old photographs of a couple, war photos of a man, old letters and even drugs. We felt these props went well with the title Nostalgia as our story was about a lady who lost her husband in war and therefore turned to a life of drugs and alcohol. The old photos of her husband and herself reflect her nostalgic thoughts. We did not just want our title sequence to finish here, so we also added live action into it which showed the young woman walking away and secretly meeting another person where she exchanges money for drugs and cigarettes, showing her husbands death has clearly affected her lifestyle hugely.
Personally, I think filming went extremely well for us. By filming the table multiple times to insure it was the best quality we could possibly make it, we were able to achieve a sequence at our full capability which I am proud of! However, I did face a few challenges when filming! As I was the person in charge of the camera, I found it a challenge to make the transition from each item flow easily and for the camera to flow very easily, after a few attempts I feel I was successful. Similarly, when filming the live action, we had to insure no modern features were shown in the shot (like a fire extinguisher), in order to achieve this, while I was filming, another member of my group followed behind making sure I did not capture the items while filming.
Once all the filming was completed, we used iMovie to piece it all together and edit it. Firstly, we imported the song onto iMovie and started it eight seconds in so the words matched what we were shooting. Obviously we had to incorporate our names into the title sequence so we carefully placed them in relevant parts of the sequence, for example when there was enough space on the screen so it was not all squashed together. We made sure the font related to our storyline, so we used an old, cursive font to make it seemed old fashioned and nostalgic. Our title sequence lasts just over one minute, which is long enough to tell a small story but short enough to keep it captivating and engaging! Equally, we kept it at this length for good practise as in our final piece, we will aim for our title sequence to be about a minute long.
When filming the live action scene, tracking shots, following shots, over the shoulder shots and shot reverse shots were used to achieve a realistic and suspenseful scene. When filming, a priority of ours was to make sure the background did not take up most of the shot but rather the main object or person did, this way it is less distracting and engages the audience in more.
Finally, we decided to name our show Saudade, translating to 'missing' from Portuguese to English, we thought was was very relevant to the theme of nostalgia and is unique and engaging to people to see. Our production company is called Moontale Studios, which we incorporated into our title sequence at the beginning, making it seem professional and of high standard.
Shot types:
Close up (CU): A picture which shows a fairly small part of the scene, such as a character's face, in great detail so that it fills the screen
Extreme close up (XCU): shows a small part of the scene like a characters face. Often forehead to nose
Medium long shot (MLS): in the case of a standing actor, the lower frame line cuts off his feet and ankles
Medium shot (MS): the setting and actor roughly occupy the same amount of screen
High level shot: the camera looks down at a character, making the viewer feel more powerful than him or her
Canted angle shot: Tilted/Canted angle shots are used in films that want to create suspense, it is used to create the sense of unease in the viewer.
Low level shot: the camera is below the character, exaggerating his or her importance
Birds eye shot:
Continuity editing:
You show clear understanding of different shot types and have practised continuity editing and making a film opening. You document your work carefully. Your practice film opening 'Saudade' includes titles, rostrum shots, a convincing use of props to create the mise-en-scene, a soundtrack and realistic editing. It conveys the thriller genre combined with an early twentieth-century backstory. Well done.
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