Title Sequence Analysis

This title sequence is from the film Watchmen, and I think it is very effective in introducing us to the world of the film which in this case is an alternate history 1985 where being a superhero is an illegal activity and the world is on the verge of total war.

It basically not only shows some of the credits for everyone who helped in making the film but also shows us various events that have happened several years before the events in the film which helps us to get a better understanding of why certain things happen in the film. The shots you see are all filmed in slow motion or to a point where there is almost no movement like a still shot. The song that plays during the title sequence is the song ‘The times they are a changing’ by Bob Dylan which has the purpose of introducing us to the time this was set in but also suits the theme of the title sequence, where the times are indeed changing especially for superheroes who are outlawed by the time the film begins.

The setting of the film is 1985 which is shown in the title sequence where every character appears to be wearing clothing that would have been fashionable at the time, even the superheroes wear something that would have been available at the time as they probably could not get absolutely modern suits back then. 

Watching: Beginnings Summary

We watched a video in class called Watching: Beginnings which basically discussed what makes the introduction of a film very effective to a point where it keeps the audience hooked. This was explained by the director Danny Boyle who said to "Announce your ambitions" to the audience for the first five minutes of the film, meaning that you must make the opening as interesting as possible. There was also a quote from the director John Schlestinger who said that a "Good sharp shot" is necessary for an opening as it keeps the audience interested. Finally there was a quote saying "The real power is the interaction between the film and the public that makes the film work or not" meaning that if the opening is not interesting enough, then the audience are less likely to enjoy the film.

Evaluation of skills

• We managed to stick with the 180 degree rule, something we didn't do we on previously
• We managed to use shot reverse shot and match on action effectively
• We managed to use eye-line matching effectively

The Preliminary ex evaluation

After finding major flaws in the videos of two groups including my group, we decided to combine forces to create a single video that would correct all our errors entirely. These mistakes were the 180 degree rule which was from the other group and in our video the error was eye-lining. As a result we strove to stamp out these errors and make a flawless video. We decided the story was simply a drug deal, nothing too difficult to do and it was easy to edit too. Despite the fact I decided not to wear my costume at last minute, we managed to finish shooting it and edited it, and we corrected the errors of both groups too. We were all satisfied with the final cut as well.

Prelinary ex finished video

Today we begun work on our Preliminary task, and I was been placed in a group with Nicola and Samaya. Our task was to film 30 second conversation featuring at least four lines of dialogue. The plot for ours was simply a man with a beard asking for a job from a Gangster sort of person. Unfortunately for the man with a beard he is punched for no reason by this Gangster. I had to play the role of the man with a beard whilst Nicola played the role of the Gangster and Samaya filmed us. This task was made difficult by Nicola bursting out laughing by my deliberately comical acting, regardless we took more than enough shots to complete the filming stage and now we are onto the editing stage as a result. This is a picture of me and Samaya preparing for shooting.

Preliminary Task: Filming

Today I set about filming a 30 second conversation with my team consisting of Samaya and Nicola. I was one of the actors in the film who had to wear a goatee-like beard, and we had to film in the Connexions room.

Before filming, we had to create a storyboard of what would happen in the film. My storyboard which contained an unusual scenario became the choice for what we filmed.

The only time we found difficulties was when we had to move the camera about due to the small size of the room and lack of room, regardless we were still able to complete filming in time for the editing process.