Scene 1 Colour Correction

I have had improved my colour correction for scene 1.

Below I have put some screenshots of my efforts. In general I increased the contrast by lowering the shadows (and sometimes blacks) a bit and increasing the shadows. The cloudy day meant that I have increased both the temperature and saturation to make the film look more autumnal/end-of-summery than overcast. On the brick wall shot I added some sharpness.


Before                                                                     After



Before                                                                     After

Before                                                                     After

Before                                                                     After

After                                                                       Before


After                                                                       Before

After                                                                       Before

After                                                                       Before

After                                                                       Before

Scene 1, Rough Cut 1

Here is the first rough cut of our film. I have matched together the sound from the DAC and the video. This was especially tricky in the scene below because of the placement of the boom mic - it is behind the pillar nearest to the actors at the start. Because of the mic in this position, the sound of running was less than optimal. I used the sound from the camera microphone to fix this a little. The in-camera sound was fine because it's a prosumer camcorder (so designed to have good sound quality) and not a DSLR.

I also had a quick look at a first view of some colour correction/grading. I did this because it was set on a sunny day but the shooting day itself was rather overcast. It is very much a first draft but it's good to get an idea.

Shot List Second Draft

Here is the second draft of our shot list. We have added more shots into the first scene to make it more sinister and we have tweaked shots throughout the document to (hopefully!) finalise the shot list. Of course we will continue to alter this as we shoot.

Location and Property Breakdown

I have used Celtx again to create a location and prop breakdown. This is an easy to read breakdown of each scene, clearly displaying everything we need.

Act I Sound Testing

Here you can see the musical test composition for our first act - This is made of three tracks, the bass piano, piano melody, and flute. Originally this was just the two piano lines but the piece sounded empty inside. I added the flute to give it some character without detracting from what I'd already made.

Generic Conventions of the Magazine Cover

In general on a film magazine poster, there are certain conventions. For example:

• Masthead - the name of the magazine, displayed large at the top and distinct from the background. This tends to be identical across editions, to identify the magazine.

• Background Image - Generally a simple image to do with the main film featured in the issue, be it publicity shots, a still frame, or an artists rendition, it usually portrays one or more of the lead actors from the film. It takes up the whole of the page and is designed to draw the viewer's attention.

• Film Title - Often in the very centre of the page, roughly the same size as the magazine title and telling the viewer what the feature article is about. This convention is often subverted however, as above.

• Skyline - a catchy slogan to grab the reader's attention on a magazine rack in a shop. Normally it's about the magazine itself (see Sight & Sound) or about the film (see Empire. Note, however, that Empire do still have a slogan about the magazine, but below the title).

• Other Features - This is probably the most changeable element of a magazine, even from issue to issue. This is usually some text and/or a pictures describing other articles in the magazine. This is in black text on the Empire magazine cover above.

Institutional Analysis - Empire

Here is a prezi I made, exploring Empire magazine as an institution.

One copy costs £5.

Institutional Analysis - Little White Lies

The Cover

Not a traditional film magazine cover - illustration of the film rather than production photos or stills
Little text other than the film & magazine titles - no advertisement of what's inside.
These help the magazine to stand out.
However cover still has masthead, price, issue number, barcode, slogan. You would expect these of any magazine.
Sometimes colour-in covers - appeals to more artsy people?

They say they 'look for new ways of combining cutting-edge editorial and graphic design while remaining dedicated to championing the best film talent from around the world' - the look of the magazine is just as important as the content

Published by a small, relatively unknown company called TCOLondon

According to the Mosaic UK demographic study:
Little White Lies main target audience can in be found in Group O - Urban Intelligence that ‘mostly contains young and well educated people who are open to new ideas and influences’. Group E are young people that will have gone through higher education, be of liberal idea, have access to disposable income and be open to new experiences and value ‘authenticity over veneer’. This fits perfect in to Little White Lies values that attempts to be: A new type of film magazine. Adopts a serious tone about film. Is aimed at an inner city (mainly London) readership. Claims to be about Truth so aims to have ‘authenticity’. The tone of the writing is high-brow analysis and exploration of themes so anticipates (maybe requires) an intelligent readership. The design of the magazine is often abstract and arbitrary aimed at a design and brand savvy consumer.

Circulation:
Print magazine, some articles available online

One copy costs £6-10, making it the most expensive of the three magazines

Inception Trailer Analysis

Camera

• Almost every shot is very carefully framed. Lots of centre framed shots to portray DiCaprio as the main character.
• Lots of camera movement. Lots of stabilised handheld camera.

Editing

• Slow in act 1 despite lots of drama and effects - shows that in this world, that sort of thing is fairly normal.
• Remains slow at the start of act 2 but speeds up rapidly and stays rapid for act 3 - this conforms to trailer conventions.

Mise-En-Scene

• Anamorphic 2.35:1 aspect ratio creates a very cinematic feel
• Contrasting colours - outside is brown but lots of inside shots (especially after act 1) are very blue. Inside shots with other people in are also yellow/brown.
• Intertitles begin in act 2, essentially replacing the V/O as the narrative device.
• A heavy emphasis on special effects throughout - this shows that the target audience of the film is not necessarily focussed so much on a good storyline but more a good cinema experience.
• Ends with CGI city becoming title - reflects opening CGI city WB logo.

Sound

• V/O narrates the trailer, but is dialogue as V/O. This helps to show the audience the story because it is otherwise not clear what it is
• The music begins with a series of loud booms (apparently known as "The Inception 'BRAAAAM'). This is the first film to do this and has since been used dozens of times by similar films.
• The music consists of low drones topped with dramatic, heavily rhythmic music. Violins build towards act 2.
• Big boom ends act 1. 'I have to steal it' ends V/O.