From the process of constructing this opening title sequence I have learnt a lot about several technologies I have come across and used. During the process of shooting I developed my knowledge of the equipment that was available to me. I used a DV camera for both tasks as I could not get access to a broadcast camera. When creating the preliminary task I used basic camera shots and a basic editing software, iMovie, as I did not feel the need to spend lots of time on this specific task and create something amazing. It was a short and simple yet fun task. I feel this was a good starting point as it allowed me to get familiar with the facilites I was going to be using again, very soon.
However when working on the video brief I learnt how to use the tripod more effectively whilst filming. My opening is very much dominated by extreme close-ups. The tripod enabled me to get closer, steadier extreme close-ups of my character and also allowed me to shoot from different angles. This time round I had more time to explore and experiment with the different techniques of using a tripod. I preferred having more time on to plan these little but vital elements. As I have been studing many openings closely I realised that the micro elements are crucial to an opening sequence. I felt the need to spent more time planning and carefully constructing several key things such as the setting, the lighting and the cinematography.
When it came to lighting I used a bright lamp and placed it directly above and positioned it closely to my actress. The mise-en-scene was simply a room with black walls. As the majority of the shots were close-ups of people I did not feel the need to spent a lot of time planning a huge mise-en-scene. I decided to film in the school drama room, I felt the black walls would work perfectly.
I also explored other techniques such as a light reflector. A fellow colleague is an absolute expert in the art of lighting (in the photo to the right). I thought this would add to and help create chiruscuro lighting I was aiming to create. Another thing that added greatly to my sequence was the use of fog. I wanted to create the illusion of my female character walking outside, so I decided to use a fog machine. (http://videokid-media.blogspot.com/2009/01/fog-machine.html). It fairly difficult and took several tries in trying to get all of this to show up on the camera. When it came to editing I found it hard to make that jump from iMovie to Final Cut Pro, so I did this in small steps. So once I had all my footage I created a rough cut on iMovie first (http://videokid-media.blogspot.com/2009/02/title-sequence-rough-cut.html). I felt this would be a good starting point and helped me through the process of editing. It gave me a rough idea of how I wanted my sequence to look and gave it more structure than a storyboard. As I wanted to pay homage visually to Sin City I then played around some of the clips on iMovie and then Final Cut (http://videokid-media.blogspot.com/2009/02/imovie-vs-final-cut-pro.html). Once I had finished experiementing I decided to edit everything on Final Cut (http://videokid-media.blogspot.com/2009/02/callums-mad-editing-skills.html), I felt everything looked more professional on this programme. I have learnt that the softwares available are not as hard as they seem. I found it very difficult to use at first, it took me time to adjust to it but I am glad I decided to use it in the end. With the help of my colleagues I managed to pull through and create a piece I am happy with.
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