Research And Idea's.

Most children's films have a moral to the story. We decided to look into these meanings to try and find idea's for our children's opening film. Some of the proverbs or morals we as a group liked were:
There's an exception to every rule.
Good things to come to people who wait.
If you cant beat em, join em.
You cant tell a book by its cover.
Money isn't everything.
A problem shared is a problem halved.

We have chosen to base our opening around the moral of "You cant tell a book by its cover". We picked this on over the others due to the diversity we can have by basing our opening around this.

The idea we had behind this moral is a story of a lonely, geeky little kid, on his daily life at school, his pushy parents, and him trying to talk to the opposite sex. We follow him through his daily routine at school, that ends with a confrontation of the school bully's. Everyone at the school labels him as a little geek who cant defend himself and is highly vulnerable. He then returns home to find a normal looking hat sitting on his bed. We end the opening with him placing the hat on his head. Then the title appears on screen with lots of stars around the title.

We have decided to use a voice over as we walk through his daily routine, as if we use this, we can greater illustrate the idea with out going into to much detail and leaving the viewer with lots of different questions as to much detail could result in us creating a short film or trailer.

Title: Monty and The Magical Hat.
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy.
Rating: PG
Hand drawn animation with voice over.

The rating system for films

PG Parental Guidance – General viewing, but some scenes may be unsuitable for young children Unaccompanied children of any age may watch. A ‘PG’ film should not disturb a child aged around eight or older. However, parents are advised to consider whether the content may upset younger or more sensitive children.
Discriminatory language or behaviour is unlikely to be acceptable unless clearly disapproved of or in an educational or historical context. Discrimination by a character with which children can readily identify is unlikely to be acceptable.
References to illegal drugs or drug misuse must be innocuous or carry a suitable anti-drug message.
Frightening sequences should not be prolonged or intense. Fantasy settings may be a mitigating factor.
No detail of potentially dangerous behaviour which young children are likely to copy. No glamorisation of realistic or easily accessible weapons.Mild bad language only.Natural nudity, with no sexual context.Sexual activity may be implied, but should be discreet and infrequent. Mild sex references and innuendo only.Where more serious issues are featured (for example, domestic violence) nothing in their treatment should condone unacceptable behaviour.Moderate violence, without detail, may be allowed, if justified by its context (for example, history, comedy or fantasy).

The Analysis of Monsters, Inc. intro

Monsters, inc. does not take a conventional introduction to the film. it does not explore the scene , it shows no location,characters or actors. The genres are mixed, it does not stick to one type of genre, it varies from a children's thriller, to a comedy and finally a mystery. The background sound of the intro is quite jazzy and upbeat, this gives the audience the idea that the film is going to be lively and fast paced. It is an orchestrated score their are no diagetic sounds, every sound we hear is non diagetic in the introduction to the film. The intro itself gives the audience the main gist of the film, the idea of monsters going in and out of doors. For example, there's a section in the film where the doors change from the monsters to a usual closet,which is unexpected, but hints at the main idea of the story line. Also the colour scheme of the intro is very appealing to the younger generation. And finally, the only credits are about the producers and the animation companys; " walt disney" and "pixar"

Evaluation Of Preliminary Task

When filming and editing are task, we have, as a group learnt a lot about what techniques to use while filming. Firstly, match on action. We learnt its important to get the timing right for the whole scene to actually make sense and be in chronological order. One thing we found out while being a cameraman is that the use of the tripod is key, as some shots require a still motion. If handheld, it becomes unstirdy and the viewer is given the wrong impression of the atmosphere the characters are in. When editing, the background volume plays an important role in the build up of the scene. We learnt how to control this via Final Cut. We didnt want to blow the viewer away with the sound, so we tuned it down to make it seem more relaxed. We also learnt how to fade in and out the end credits to add a more professional end to the sequence.

Through all the things we have learnt from this task, we hope to apply them are childrens opening sequence. :)

Video Filming Conversation

This is our video demonstrating Match on action, shot reverse shot and the 180 degree rule, please love this :)

Shot Reverse Shot

Shot reverse shot is where one character is shown looking at another character, this other character is often not in the screen, the shot will then move to the other character who will be facing in the opposite direction, as both characters are represented as looking in the opposite directions it gives the impression to the viewer that both characters are both looking at each other.

This is often used to represent a conversation, and is used during continuity editing. it then draws away from the emphasis of the transitions and is represented in a linear, chronological and logical match, this is known as an eye line match and is used to give the viewer the impression of carrying on the conversation.

Match on Action

Match on action is a continuity cut which unites two different views of the same action together at the same moment in movement, making it seem to continue.A match on action, a technique used in film editing, is a cut that connects two different views of the same action at the same moment in the movement. By carefully matching the movement across the two shots, filmmakers make it seem that the motion continues uninterrupted. For a real match on action, the action should begin in the first shot and end in the second shot.

The 180 Degree Rule

The 180 degree is the basic guideline in film making that states that two characters in the same scene should always have the same left/right relationship to each other. If the camera passes over the imaginary axis connecting the two subjects, it is called crossing the line. The new shot, from the opposite side, is known as a reverse angle.

In professional productions, the applied 180° rule is an essential element for a style of film editing called continuity editing. The rule is not always obeyed.ome filmmakers state that the fictional axis created by this rule can be used to plan the emotional strength of a scene. The closer a camera is placed to the axis, the more emotionally involved the audience will be.

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