Editing

During lessons this week we have started to edit our shots. First we watched all the clips and then put them all into final cut pro. We then went through and selected the best version of each shot. After this we started cutting them and putting it all together, for some shots we had to take the filming from one shot and the sound from another as the sound was sometime disturbed by wind or other interfering factors. When reviewing our progress on friday we realised that we wont be able to use the shots of the wife (jane) riding the horse. This is because in the shots she is wearing a riding helmet, this would not fit with the western genre that we have chosen. The reason for her wearing a riding helmet was that she thought it was illegal (if not then still unsafe) to ride a horse without a helmet. This is something that we had not invisaged would be a problem as we hadnt thought of it whilst planning. As her wearing a helmet doesnt fit with our genre we will have to think of a way around showing the horse and re-shoot it. We could have close ups of the horses hooves, tail and head whilst running or crop the shot so we only see the middle of her and the horse. This is something we will have to think about and explore this week.  

Filming

On saturday we filmed our western opening. I feel that it all went to plan, there was a minor problem in that one of our original actors was ill however we managed to find someone else to fill their role. We found it slightly difficult to film the sceens with sound because of the distance the shots were being filmed from and because of the windy weather conditions. The filming also took less time than we expected, for this reason we didn't wholey stick to our initial time plan but it was useful to have it with us to use as a list to see what we had to do. I think it took less time because we were more efficient than we expected we would be, partly because it was cold and windy and our actors could wear coats as it wouldnt have fitted with their costume, so we filmed what we needed as quickly as possible and everyone cooperated and didnt mess around. Below are some photos of us filming. 
 

Questionnaire Results

On friday we analysed the results from our questionnaire. We interviewed 6 people and found that on a whole the results were mostly as we expected. This means that we dont need to change our narrative structure and story board. I think this is because we researched our genre beforehand so we knew what the generic conventions were and we conformed with them. 


Question 1

 

The majority of the people we asked weren't fans of westerns however as expected those that were were male or older. Even though not everyone I asked was a fan of this genre I hoped that by taking on board their views I could create a film opening that appealed to a wider audience.   

Question 2 and 3

The usual plots that people had recognised includes: good overcoming evil, action, guns, cowboys, theft, chases. These seem to be the general ideas that people had and they were the prefered plots. We will bare this in mind, this coincides with our initial narrative ideas so we wont need to change that. I think that the reason it fits with it is as we researched  the genre and generic conventions beforehand so had an idea of what to include.

Question 4 and 5

The stereotypical characters that the people surveyed thought featured in westerns are: Strong fit cowboys, good guys, evil guys/devious baddies, indians, horses. This also fits with my narrative as it (my narrative structure) features many of these c haracters. In our opening we have goodies (cowboys), badies and horses so covering 4 of the mentioned character types. For this reason i don't feel that we need to change our narrative structure as we include the majority of suggested characters. There weren't any characters that people thought were missing from westerns either.

Question 6

There were  several  ideas for the opening of westerns including:  a shoot out in a bar, a chase, horses, rolling landscapes but all of the people we asked said that the opening should include action. This fits with my opening as, though the opening  does not feature a shoot out at a bar, it does include action and this was the most popular response. For this reason i see no reason to change our narrative structure.

Props

Props	Supplied by
Bandanas	Nikki
Cowboy hats	Actor
Logs	Nikki
Blanket	Jess
Make up/Face Paint	Jess/Nikki
Horse	Nikki
Seating (blanket/cushion)	Jess
Bag	Jess
Skateboard	Jess
Rope	Jess
Sledge	Nikki
Umbrella	Nikki

Actors

Woman in distress - Jane Kelsey

 Angry man 1 - Dan Paton

Angry man 2 - Dan Effendi

Husband - Rob Smith

Questionnaire

We constructed a questionnaire to carry out so that we can get some idea of what the audience of a western would like the film to be about. We will carry out this questionnaire and then, if need be, change our narrative structure and storyboards accordingly so that they coincide with what the feedback from the questionnaires tell us that the audience want to see. 

Media Questionnaire on Westerns

Please circle the appropriate:

Gender: Male Female

Age: under 13 13-18 18-25 25-40 over 40

Please answer and give details in the space provided if need be

1) Are you a fan of Westerns?

    Yes No 

    …………………………………………………………………………………

2) What is the usual plot of the ones you have watched?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

3) Is this your preferred story line? (if no please give details of how you would prefer it to be)

    Yes No

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

4) What are the stereotypical characters that feature in them?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

5) Are there any other characters that you think should feature in them?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

6) What do you think is the best way to open a western?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

We will ask 6 people our questionnaires, 3 that are fans of westerns and 3 that aren't, this way we will get a range of opinions and hopefully get feedback that will allow us to produce a western that appeals to a wider audience. The stereotypical target audience for westerns is young/middle aged men however we will ask people from a variety of age groups and of both genders in an attempt to make it attract a larger audience. 

Plan for day of filming

We decided to draw up a timeline of saturday (when we plan to film). THough we may encounter problems, or get it done quicker thank expected we thought it would be good to have a rough guide to times that we could ue on the day. 

Time
11:30	Actors Arrive
11:35	Make up and costume
12:00	Set up to film
12:15	Start filming shots on hill
12:45	Shots flat land
13:15	Close up of feet (on hill?)
13:30	EAT
14:00	Horse shot
14:40	Camp shot-set up fire and shelter
15:30	Pack up
15:50	Go Home

This is our initial narrative structure. We still need to carry out questionnaires to ask people about their preferred type of western, if the results conflict with our planned plot then we will adapt it at a later date.

Here is a copy of our script. This is what we intend to be said however this may change if we encounter problems whilst filming that interfere with the sound.

Above are our storyboards, this is how we plan to film our opening however, as with the others they may change as a result of interfering factors. 

After researching westerns in more detail we have decided to do a contemporary western. They have many typical features and are often set on rugged rural terrain with a central plot revolving around conflict between good vs evil or rich vs poor. Some typical elements in them include guns and gunfights- often on horseback, shootouts, horses, human massacres, open landscapes and the characters wear distinctive western clothing (denim, jeans, boots, cowboy hats etc). The heros are genrally local lawmen, cowboys ranchers or army officers that are both courageous, tough and moral and independent. They stand alone against danger (often outlaws) and display physical skills such as horse-handling and gun-play. We will use this information to ensure that our plot meets the generic conventions of other contemporary westerns.

Locations

Here are images of the location where we plan to shoot our film opening. The first photo is on the field in which the later shots will be filmed. The second image is of the hill that features in the begining of our opening.

Art Of The Title-Once upon a time in the west

We had trouble accessing the art of the title website and creating a link to the western video. But here is the  link to the video on the website.

http://www.artofthetitle.com/2008/04/10/once-upon-a-time-in-the-west/

Timings for titles to The Proposition

0:10 - UK film Council presents
0:16 - A Surefire films production of
0:22 - An autonomous and Jackie B productions, Co- production in association with Pictures in Paradise
0:28 - With the participation of the pacific film and television corporation and the film consortium
0:38 - Actors name
0:43 - "
0:49 - "
0:55 - "
1:01 - "
1:07 - "
1:17 - The Proposition
1:28 - Casting by
1:35 - Costume designer
1:41 - Production designer
1:47- Music
1:54 - Editor
2:00 - Director of photography
2:06 - Executive producers x2
2:13 - Executive producers x4
2:19 - Executive producers x1
2:25 - Producers x2
2:31 - Producers x2
2:37 - Screenplay
2:44 - Director

These titles last longer than two minutes, ours won't be as long as this because of the fact that we have a limited amount of time and also we will have less credits to show. For example we won't have seven executive producers, unlike this film.

Today we decided that the genre for out opening sequence will be western. We chose this as we thought it would be an interesting and different area to explore however we are still unsure of a specific sub genre to focus on. We are thinking about contemporary/euro westerns and are looking into them to see if they would suit what we want to do.

Monte Walsh

Open Range

The Proposition