Risk Assessment

What are the hazards?	Who might be harmed?	How severe could the harm be?	What controls are in place?	How likely is an accident?	Risk rating	What extra controls are needed?	When will they be in place?
1.        Falls 2.        Camera lights(Fire) 3.        Falling objects 4.        Dust/dirt 5.        Stress 6.        Sharp objects 7.        Small pond (Drowning)	Camera man Actor	Slight Couple days off at worst	Must wear suitable footwear Check location is safe before every filming session. Clean out some areas wear actor will be going to insure it's safe.	Low Unlikely	OK 1/9	No extra controls are need if all staff are sensible	During all time of filming

The Location of my Short Film

Today I went to the location where I thought the opening scene could be, after visiting I realised that my plan would have to change slightly, I will have to use the tunnels on the right, rather than the left side which was where I was thinking of doing it at the beginning.

RIGHT SIDE

The reason why I have decided that it can't be on the left side is because the drone wouldn't be able to come out of the tunnel and go upwards. The picture above is the right side of the tunnels where there is room for my drone to come out of one of the tunnel arches and fly up where the title of the film will be written.

                                               

Firstly the picture on the left is of where I think I might have the title of the film written when my drone gets to the appropriate level. I really like this feature of the location because I think it is perfect to show the title, its got a dramatic, 'action like' jungle feel with the whole building overgrow with various plants. Personally I think that a unknown location creates suspense and a area like this is probably unknown to most people, I also think that the whole building style and vegetation makes for a foreign, tropical and exciting area to get the audience engaged to the film. The second picture in the middle is of the possible tunnel I may use in my open video, I think that this tunnel will be fine because there is a nice amount of plants surrounding the area yet it has enough space for my drone to fly up. The last picture on the right is of where I was planning to shot the opening scenes but now realise that it is too overgrown to fly my drone there.  

TUNNELS

I also looked at another location to film the opening, this location is by the entrance to Stover School. It has a lot of tall trees and enough space to fly the drone. The down side is that there isn't any tunnels or anything that looks like a tunnel there and I need a tunnel for the beginning of my video. There also isn't anywhere to show the opening to the film so I decided not to film the opening there. Lastly I don't like this location because it is very relatable to many people that will view it and that will destroy its realistic style. Here are some picture of the location I decided not to use:

Brain Storm for my Short Film

So to start with i just thought up a story board for a possible opening to a action film, the image below is the story board I made. I thought that to make if look professional I should use a film studio 'introduction video', I then I used the feature from The Bourne Legacy of seeing a dead body but then to find out that they are actually alive.

My plan for this opening to a film is to have some dramatic, slow tempo music with a extreme close up shot of the actor lying with his eyes closed, then a quick shot of a hedge moving and then back to the extreme close up but then with his eyes suddenly open.I decided on this thought of this idea because I think that it will engage the audience straight away and won't be tedious and slow, the action starts from the very first second. I have also decided that I would like to film this first thing in the morning, firstly so it is realistic and secondly because it will give my a chance to be more creative with my shots.  Then the next shot is a shot from inside the tunnel with the actor reloading a hand gun, the camera will be on a slider for this shot. I think that this shot would be important because it's the first shot of the actors whole body, it's the first time the audience sees a full body shot of the main character. i also would like to use a slider to make it more dynamic shot. Then another full body shot but straight in front of the actor with his gun in his hand, the actor will be looking straight through the camera, then the camera will move backward and then upwards, whilst still moving backwards. The camera will be on a drone for this shot to get the backwards and upwards movement of the camera. Then when the camera is high enough, still with the actor in the frame, the title of the film will appear on the top of the wall above the actor. Then the actor will leave the tunnel with a shot of the actor stepping over the camera, then the actor will make it to the thick forest. There will then be a over the shoulder shot of him pushing his way through the thick forest. this is effective becuase i think it would give the audience the perspective of the characters.  The last shot will be on a tree, the actor will walked under a branch holding it tight to keep his balance, shaking the branch and when the actor is out of frame and the branch stops shaking, the actor's name will be on top of the branch.

Researching on other opening to Films

I have started by researching and watching opening to different action/thriller films. I have assessed the first two minutes of each film to understand how they have opened their film. Some of the films that i was looked at are: The Bourne Legacy, The Italian Job, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, Knight and Day and The Hurt Locker.

The Bourne Legacy

What I like about this opening sequence: I really liked the first shot of Jason Bourne (main character) because for a couple of seconds he looked dead and he wasn't identifiable, so the audience had no idea who he was and if he was alive, this dramatic start really engages the audience from the very start.

What I didn't like about this opening sequence: Although I really like this opening I found that there wasn't any credits which in my view isn't the best, I understand that they want to keep it naturalistic but at least the producer and main actor.



The Italian Job 

What I like about this opening sequence: I think that the quick shots of the city are very good in helping the audience understand where the film is set. These shots are effective because they aren't exposing everything so the audience has to keep watching to get more and more information to understand where its actually set and what's about to follow in the film.

What I didn't like about this opening sequence: The shots of the map, this dragged on too far and personally bored me, I was relieved when a shot of the city appeared. I think it is important to sometimes start slowly (editing wise) to make the audience want to watch more and see what's to happen but the speed and length of this opening in my opinion is too long and bores the audience.

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

What I like about this opening sequence: I liked the first aerial shots of Budapest, this really helps to audience to understand exactly where they/the plot is set and what the city is like. Although this may not engage a audience as much as non-exposing shots that only shots small parts of a city and the audience have to work out where it is and what is happening, but because Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol is so action packed they have very quickly identified the location and gone straight into a intense action scene, so the audience as then engaged by the action anyway. I also liked the camera movements at two particular moments: at 1:36 to 1:45 the camera was used in one continuous shot, firstly focusing on a file in his bag, then his face (mid shot) and a clever turn to show that the character was turning around; this was very effective in helping to tell the story. Having a variation in shot length gave the audience time to understand what was going on, before this shot was a lot of fast short clips.

What I didn't like about this opening sequence: On the whole I thought that this opening was extremely engaging and had a good mix between aerial/landscape shots and action shots. The only thing that I would do differently is open the film with some less exposing shots of Budapest and then the last shot before the action scene would be the aerial to finally show the audience the location.

  

Knight and Day

What I like about this opening sequence: The very first shot of Tom Cruise's head I really liked, the use of focal length is quite effective in making Tom Cruise's head being the centre of attention when he walks in front of the camera, then the second he started to walk the music kicks in. This close up of Cruise's head was really exciting when the music began because the audience isn't sure on what is to follow. I also like it because it showed a few credits but in a very subtle way and there is still something happening for the audience to be engaged with (Cruise looking a toy figures).

What I didn't like about this opening sequence: I felt that the credits weren't very clear and noticeable, I liked the way there was actions going on at the same time but only after watching the opening a couple of times I noticed the credits. So for my film I want to try and show the credits in a more obvious way but make sure that they didn't drag on.

The Hurt Locker

What I like about this opening sequence: I thought that the use of the remote controlled machine was very good because to machine makes you sense that something is about to be found because of the arm on the machine. I also like the way that it starts with the POV of the remote controlled machine, with some 'glitch' effects. This is very immersive because you can see the shadow of remote controlled machine but the audience don't really know what the POV is of until the shot of the remote controlled machine from the side, I think this use of prop and POV is very effective and I think that, if it's suitable, to use it in my own opening sequence film.

What I didn't like about this opening sequence: One feature which I didn't much like was the background sounds of the Mosque, this sound I think was used to make the audience think/hint a sort of bombing or terrorist attach, possibly, is about to happen. This could be called stereotypical but I think that the media is a very powerful influence in how people think and judge things, think lovely sound that Mosques produce are now reflected as a 'negative' sound which I do not believe is right. Other than that I that that the overall structure and camera work, mise en scene  and editing is very good, its brings lots of tension and suspense in this brilliant realistic thriller/action film.

Firstly I have noticed that all the openings of these films start with the production companies 'introduction' video saying who made the film, Paramount, 20th century fox for example. Another feature I noticed in the beginning of all these films is that there's slow but dramatic music to start it off. I really liked the start of the The Bourne Legacy with the still shot of the main character being completely still, making him look dead, this was a dramatic start for the audience who had no idea what was going on. This effect engaged the audience from the very first seconds of the film, this is a feature that I defiantly want to use.. Lastly I noticed that many of the films I looked at used aerial footage to give the audience a understanding of where 'they' the characters are, so I have decided that if it fits my opening video I will use aerial shots.

There were also some, in my opinion, bad features which I won't be using in my opening video. One feature is the opening to The Italian Job because I think that the idea of just showing a map with all the titles can get very tedious after about 20 different names (2 minutes), I understand the convention of it, making suspense for the audience but personally I think that it goes on for too long and it got boring. So for my video I will make sure that I only show two or three titles and don't make it too tedious.

Time Management

Date	What I am going to do
17/11/2014	Research other films in an action/thriller genre.
20/11/2014	Start to think about own film (plan storyboard)
24/11/2014	Look at different locations for the film
02/12/2014	Start taking some test shots
07/12/2014	Research music for the film
09/12/2014	Research the prop and how to use it properly
09/12/2014	Decide on an actor/actress
6/01/2015	Start shooting
12/01/2015	Shooting
13/01/2015	Shooting
15/01/2014	Shooting
17/01/2015	Start Editing
18/01/2015	Editing
19/01/2015	Editing
20/01/2015	Upload first version of the film
20/01/2015	Ask friends and teachers for feedback
22/01/2015	Shooting for improvements
24/01/2015	Editing in improved shots
25/01/2015	Editing
26/01/2015	Shooting for improvements and editing them into the film
27/01/2015	Upload second version of the film`
29/01/2015	Create a survey for feedback on film
2/02/2015	Analyse Responses
3/02/2015	Analyse more responses and apply some of the suggestions to the film
5/02/2015	Shooting for improvements
8/02/2015	Editing for improvements
9/02/2015	Shooting for improvements
10/02/2015	Shooting for improvements
12/02/2015	Editing for improvements
16/02/2015	Make my own film production company introduction video
23/02/2015	Analyse final lot of responses from survey
2/03/2015	Shooting for final improvements
3/03/2015	Shooting for final improvements
5/03/2015	Shooting for final improvements
7/03/2015	Editing for final improvements
8/03/2015	Editing for final improvements
9/03/2015	Upload final cut

...END OF PRELIMINARY EXERCISE...

This is my final video for my preliminary exercise. I was not able to change the camera angles because of technical problems but I did improve the voice clarity but doing a voice over.