Kingsman: The Secret Service

Kingsman: The Secret Service Film Poster

On Saturday 31st January, I went to watch Kingsman: The Secret Service which is a action movie which spy elements. I decided to go and see this film because I believed it could help when filming in our sessions and when editing.

This film had conventions of spy movies. For example that the secret agents who wear the protagonists in the film wore smart formal clothing which is shown in the picture below. Also the secret agent wears glasses which help hide part of his identity which is another convention which we have already adopted into our sequence. Also this character stands out more due to props and costume, which is what we have tried to do which are actor, Amy who plays Agent Boyer in our sequence. This has been done as she wears completely black and that her hair is quite distinctive.

The Spies wore very formal clothing.

Also in the movie, the locations used were mainly very urban at the beginning and throughout the film a great many total of locations had been used. In our own sequence we only have a small amount of time, however we have tried to get a wide variety of locations in our sequence which helps meet the criteria of spy movies. Also the urban scenes had very dark lighting when the setting was an interior, also when exterior settings were used in the film for urban locations there was average natural light and the mood was very average and normal. However music in the chase scenes helped boost the tension for the audience and I felt that the sound was very important in this movie as it helped change the audience's moods dramatically. Below is the trailer and from this short clip, it helps justify what I have explained.

Editing: Day 2

We decided on which effect looked best.

This is the second editing session we have completed, and in this session we begun to add effects into the sequence.

First we decided to continue to cut and lay shots onto the timeline so that we have our order correct when we come to add any other elements like sound, effects or transitions. We each took turns in cutting each shot which we did with the blade tool. We carried on from the shot where Paul is walking out of the gate and once we had the timeline fully complete we watched the entire sequence to ensure we hadn't made any obvious mistakes.

Next we begun to add the effects into the opening scene. We choose our effects from Final Cut Pro and went through each one till we all agreed on one which we thought would go well with the chosen shot we were intended to add an effect to. One shot which we wanted to add an effect to was when Paul was walking towards the camera. We added an effect which made Paul appear blurred and his identity slightly hidden. I thought this worked well as it then made him appear as a sinister character and also made him different in the opening scene. However this effect does possess a certain sci-fi quality which might not fully meet the genre conventions, however we can always change this later on when we come to watch the entire sequence.

This is the Raw footage of the shot which we thought an effect should be added to because we wanted to hide the antagonists identity as much as possible to create mystery around this specific character.

Another shot we added an effect to was the point of view shot. This shot shows Paul following Amy. In this shot we added a light flashing effect which gave the sense of confusion. This worked really well and helped create a great opening part to the chase scene.





This is a video of the shot with the flashing effect appplied.

Title Animation

I have chosen to research Title Animation because we can use it in our own sequence. Instead of having text, we can apply some animation to help create a more professional and sleek look. This will also help us continue to apply more genre conventions to the spy thriller genre.

There are many examples and ideas of title animation on various websites which show how creative you can be when creating the animation, however during the research some examples I found had been completed on other editing software such as After Effects. I then looked at title animation which has specifically been made in Final Cut Pro which is the software we are using for our sequence.

Below is a video which I found on YouTube, which shows all types of animation which can be completed in Final Cut Pro, however some of the animation cannot be adapted into our own sequence because they do not match genre conventions and wouldn't be associated with the spy thriller genre. Within this video, I have found a title animation which could potentially be used in our sequence, it starts at 1:07 and finishes at 1:17. I like this title animation because it gives the idea of spilled blood after being shot or attacked, which is related to a spy thriller genre. Also I like the colours used, as there is white and black used which is like good and bad and relates to characters within the genre. Also having the colour white in the background helps define any animation occurring in the foreground which helps grab the audience's attention.

I have also researched film animation which is used in more well known films. One title animation which I have focused on is Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol. I chose this particular title animation because this film has been made in the past 5 years so the technology used is recent and up to date and that the film's genre is a spy thriller which matches our sequence. I managed to find a video on YouTube showing the animation of the title. The title has a bold font which helps show the text clearly to the audience. The colour matches the light which is sparked before the title animation begins and this shows that the title animation is all relevant.

Filming Schedule Cancellation

We had spoken to each other at school on the Monday we were supposed to be filming, however we decided not to go ahead and film. This was due to a number of factors, which was that the weather conditions caused us to cancel because it would ruin the continuity in the sequence and that it was going darker outside sooner than expected and that the amount of filming time would be reduced dramatically. So we have now decided we will rearrange the filming time to Sunday 1st February.

Date & Timing
01-02-2015: On Sunday we will finish filming the chase scene. We will begin filming at 11:00 AM and finish 4:00 PM this will give us 5 hours to film the rest of the chase scene. Also this time we will begin filming at exactly 11:00 AM and so we will have more time filming than if we had filmed on Monday.

Problems
Problems that may occur might be caused by weather like it did on the Monday we originally planned on Monday. However there has been a change in weather over the past week so hopefully the ground will be safe enough to film the rest of the chase scene. Also Kayleigh is going to ensure her camera is fully charged however the camera battery may not last as long as 5 hours.

Editing: Day 1

Kayleigh showing me and Amber the title animation.

This was the first session of editing as a group and in order to complete the editing we used Final Cut Pro which is a software installed on the Macs. Also before this editing session I had completed research about the software so that the tools and effects which Final Cut Pro offered were used and that the amount we produced was increased.

Firstly me and Amber looked at what Kayleigh had done originally, however the opening title had the incorrect font and isn't what we discussed. But the opening title animation looked good and the colours used were white and black which are typically used in spy thrillers. Also the animation appeared like blood which will help the audience identity what genre film this is going to be.

After watching the title animation, we then started laying out the timeline. I used the software to drag the shots and to layout the timeline. This consisted of watching the shots and choosing which clips were appropriate and good enough to include into the sequence.

I planned the timeline and the camera shot order.

Kayleigh then edited the shots which I placed in the timeline. She used the blade tool on the shots of Amy walking out of the elevator and when she went through the door. However because we have re-filmed some shots the lighting had changed which had caused a problem. But I suggested we could place text over the dark area's, for example the directors name could be placed on the screen with an animation to make the text appear on and off screen. After this Amber edited the shots of Amy walking and bending down to the box, again she used the blade tool.

Next we wanted to edit the shots of Paul walking through the gate, however we wanted a match on action shot which looked professional and didn't have incorrect timing. But this was harder than expected. So me and Amber took turns in attempting to get a match on action shot which appeared professionally. After this time consuming part which eventually managed to get the cutting of shots correct.

Later on that day, Amber and Kayleigh went back at lunch to complete some more editing, however I could not be there due to a school commitment.

Filming Schedule 3

We have spoken to each other within school hours and decided that we were originally going to film on Sunday but Paul has become unavailable and therefore we cannot film. So now we will be filming on the 26th January 2015. However this means we will have less time to film because we are starting later in the day than normal.

Date & Timing
26-01-2015: On Monday we will finish filming the chase scene. We will hopefully begin filming between 3:30 and 4:00 because school finishes at 3:05 and we will have to allow time for the actors to change within the school facilities and to travel to the location. We predict that we will have 2 hours of filming time before it begins to go dark. This is important because we want there to be continuity in our sequence.

Problems

Problems that may occur might be caused by the weather and there may be rainy conditions or that the temperature may be cold and the ground may become to dangerous to run across in order to film the chase scene. Also previously when we have filmed, the camera battery hasn't lasted as long as we have hoped considering the camera is fully charged to begin with. However we are only filming for 2 hours, so we are hopeful that the camera battery will last.

Opening Scene Research

I have chosen to complete research on opening scenes. This will help give us ideas of what type of camera shots and movements, lighting, sound and atmosphere to use for our opening scene. Our group will use all research to help create a professional opening scene which will adopt all genre conventions and use different elements correctly.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
From watching the opening scene from Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix, I have found out a great deal of information. This will help me vision what our opening scene will look like, however even though this film is not a spy thriller, it has certain aspects which can be used our sequence. Firstly the title of the film is shown at the beginning of the film instead of after the opening scene which some films include. This could be used in our sequence before the opening scene starts, however we want to create a dramatic feel for the audience so revealing the title last in the opening scene maybe more appropriate considering our sequence involves a chase scene. An aerial shot is used which helps set the location and the lighting used is natural lighting from the sun, we could use this as the location we are now using, offers both plenty of natural light, as well as artificial light. Also in this opening scene the aerial shot is from high up, however this is not possible as we don't have the necessary equipment to do so, however there are balconies, and rail road bridges very close by which we could use to help set the location. Another type of shot used is a high angle shot of main characters silhouette which helps hide his identity and create slight tension for the audience. This type of shot could easily be used for our sequence as we could use our protagonists silhouette created from the natural light and help gradually reveal her identity as she does play a secret agent in our opening scene. Another type of technique could be that the protagonists face is zoomed in with the camera and there is also a slight high angle shot which has been used, this helps show that the hero is vulnerable and in slight pain and danger. I think we can use this for our sequence to show that the protagonist is being chased and is in danger with the antagonist and have a cut off point straight after the close up of the protagonists face and then our flash forward scene could finish. Dramatic sound has been used in this seen with a weather shot to show the mood is changing, this becomes more fast paced when the characters are running which matches the action on screen. For our sequence we were already going to use fast paced music with the chase scene, however it could be gradually introduced as the chase scene begins to help create a dramatic effect.

The Bourne Ultimatum
From watching the opening scene from The Bourne Ultimatum, I have found out a range of different elements which can easily be applied to our sequence. One part of this opening scene that I liked was that near the beginning the screen had no film footage but the location was shown in the lower right hand corner, this helps give the audience some more information about whats happening in the film and decreases the chance of them getting confused. This could be used in our sequence when we come to edit the footage we have filmed and add text with a suitable font which relates to the genre of the film. Also a shot of his feet has been filmed which helps hide his identity, this could be used in our opening scene to help hide our secret agents identity. After this shot, a mid body shot was taken which follows him as he moves. Also there is limited lighting so the audience can not see his face clearly, which helps keep his identity hidden. I would like to add this to our sequence when the protagonist is walking to a destination, however in this opening scene there  is artificial lighting from the lamp posts and this has been filmed near the end of the day so it is dark. But we are filming in the day but because our location is a underground car park there is only lighting produced by the ceiling lights so this is very possible to do. Another part of this opening scene which we could adopt to our sequence is that a close up shot of the protagonists face is used and no sound is used except the sound of heavy breathing produced by the character, which tells us that he is panicking and has just been running. We could use this and fit it in, after the chase scene which will also reveal the identity of the character.

What I have now learnt
From watching these opening scenes and various others on YouTube, obvious mistakes and faults in the film we have shot already have now been revealed. However this doesn't mean all the filming we have shot is now not needed. In many opening scenes there is lots of very short film footage which is played straight after another and they range from 1 - 5 seconds, this helps create a more thrilling and exciting atmosphere for the audience instead of footage that lasts 8 or more seconds playing one after another. Clips of footage ranging from 8 seconds or more could potentially make the audience bored and lose focus especially in a chase scene. Also from this research of opening scenes I now believe there are some parts of the location that we could take full advantage off and that lighting we have on offer could be used more effectively.

Editing Software: Tools & Transitions

The editing software we used for our Preliminary Task was called Final Cut Pro. This software is installed on the iMacs and caused issues when we came to edit the Preliminary Task as we had not used it in the past and was not familiar with its tools and features which it had to offer.
I have completed research on this software and how to use the iMacs more efficiently. This will help increase the pace at which we will work and help complete the editing quicker. This will then give us more time to look over the final sequence and look for any errors made in editing so we have time to fix them, so the sequence looks more professionally done.

Editing Tools
The select tool allows the user to grab and move a clip around the timeline to the place which they want. Also the select tool can shorten or lengthen a clip at any time when its in the timeline.

The Trim tool allows the user to change the duration of the clip, however it can be used to trim what footage the user needs. Also within the Trim tool, a slip edit can be done which allows the user to change what is being shown but the duration stays the same.

The Position tool allows the user to move a clip in the timeline, however even though the select tool does this there is a difference. When moving a clip with the position tool it doesn't alter the timeline and leaves the duration of the entire footage the same without automatically moving other clips together.

The Range Selection tool allows the user to select a portion of the clip and help add a element such as a transition or a colour effect.

The Blade tool allows the user to cut a clip into sections and choose which parts they want to cut out and delete and which to keep.

The Zoom tools allows the user to help either zoom into a section of the timeline or help enlarge the entire timeline to edit clips more closely to achieve more effective results.

The Hand tool allows the user to move easily through the timeline to see the whole of the users work and to see where errors are. Also any sound added can be seen where it finishes and any missing transitions can be added using the hand tool.

Transitions
A Transition that can be added in Final Cut Pro is a Cross Dissolve. This transition is done by the user selecting the select tool from the tools menu and then clicking one of the edges of a clip of footage. The footage has to be already in the timeline in order to do this. Next the user has to choose the edit button and then click add cross dissolve or a quicker way to do this is to use the shortcut on the keyboard which is to press 'Command & T'.

Within the Final Cut Pro software there is a large range of transitions that can be chosen in the transition browser. This can  be used to either add or change a transition. First the user must go to the toolbar and then select the Transition button. This will open a library full of transitions for the user to choose, the user can even preview these transitions, simply by moving the cursor over the desired one. Once the user has chosen his/her transition they then drag it to the desired place onto the timeline section or if they want to replace a transition they simply move it on top of the existing transition. 

Assigned Roles: Fonts

I have chosen these film posters because they are all spy thriller genre and they all possess unique fonts which are displayed on there posters. On the Casino Royale poster they have cleverly used the lettering to help create the numbers ''007'' which is the characters secret agent 's name in the film. Also they have used a weapon which is a convention of a spy thriller and used it for the number 7, this title reveals many aspects of the film to the audience, like that the film is a spy thriller and that the characters name is revealed, which is hidden with the text.

Another film which I have chosen is the Salt film poster, this displays a sleek and professional title which looks very technology related, also the font is clear and in bold letters, which could mean that the name ''Salt'' is very important in the film. Another film I have chosen is one of the more recent James Bond films, Skyfall. This film poster displays its title and from first glances its significantly different from the James Bond, Casino Royale title. This title has more spaced out lettering and is very clear to the audience, also it has a damaged effect on the text and makes it look more related to violence and war, this helps relate the title to the genre of the film.

The last film poster which I have chosen is Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, this film poster displays a bold text which is in the colour red. The colour red represents danger, death and blood which relates to the genre conventions of spy thriller films. 

The images on the right hand side show how text and an image can be mixed together to create an effective title. As a group we could use this idea for our title ''Project Pursuit''. We could use a prop which is related to a spy thriller movie, for example a pistol, which is shown in the images. Also we could use our title ''Project Pursuit'' and choose an appropriate font which would match the genre. This would help show the audience that its clear that the film is a spy thriller genre.

I have researched some font types which may be suitable for the main title of the film. This will be shown in the opening scene and will reveal the title of the film to the audience. In order to research different types of fonts I went onto the internet and browsed through a selection of websites. I have chosen 5 appropriate fonts of a website called Dafont. Each of these fonts share a similarity that they have a stencil like writing which is associated with the Army and Spy elements. Every font I have chosen also is very unique, for example whereas the last font has a clean and professional look it also is very serious and would be aimed for more mature people as this wouldn't appeal to young children. But the font, second from the bottom has a distorted look which has a element of mystery and also this again wouldn't appeal to younger children. 

Filming: Day 2

Introduction
We all decided to meet up at 11:00 AM to complete our second filming session, however we didn't actually begin filming as a group till 1:30 AM due to many issues that occured in this specific session.

Filming
About 2 days before filming, texts were sent out however there were worded incorrectly, therefore some of us believed that the day of filming had been changed, therefore me and Paul were late due to a lack of communication. So due to this error we were 1hr and 45 minutes late, and when I arrived Paul told me he only arrived at the location 20 minutes before I did but no shots were filmed with him before I got to the location due to dicussions that were wasting time.

When I arrived at the location where we were filming, Amber and Kayleigh had shown me what they had filmed, however I was suprsised that they filmed some shots that didnt need to be re-shot as they could have still been used and wouldnt of disrupted the contiuity, but this wasted time itself so the time but I wasnt there when the decisions were made which meant Amber and Kayleigh werent as productive as they could of been.

After discussing what to film next, a group of youths came to the car park and were making it difficult for the us to film, therefore we all decided to leave the car park for 10 minutes and wait inside Tesco which was nearby but Amber and Amy got side tracked therefore we were in tesco for 20 minutes till we returned to the car park. When we arrived back, the youths had disappeared and we relized that almost 2 and a half hours had gone and only a few shots were filmed and these particular shots were re-filmed shots.

This is Raw Footage of one of the shots I filmed in this session. It shows a static shot of Paul walking towards the camera.

This is the beam which we filmed behind.

After the match on action shot I filmed Paul walking round the corner which is a continuitation of the previous shots I filmed which was a match on action shot of Paul. With one shot walking through the gate and the other out of the gate. The shot was a static shot of Paul walking towards the camera, however after I filmed this we all watched it back and though that the shot was to long but I suggested that we can make it shorter when editing.

I tried to film Paul from behind.

However before we filmed the static shot of Paul we tried to get one of him walking into the car park from behind, but this didnt work probably as we realized most of car park would be seen and therefore the continuity would be disrupted.

Another shot I filmed was of Amy walking past the metal beam, however Kayleigh first attempted this and the camera was on a angle due to the unsteady ground and the camera was slightly shaky, so when Kayleigh offered if anyone else could try I attempted the shot and managed to get Amy walking past the beam as best as possible even though it was quite tricky.

PUBLISH FOR FRIDAY 2 JANUARY   10:14