Maelee Scaglione's Final Project Blog

 As our production phase comes to a close, my group and I are pretty pleased with the advances made on our project. There is still a lot to be done, however, putting together a rough cut made it very clear that our imagined concepts can be made into a cohesive film opening sequence. We were able to record all of our footage in one evening, which was a lot larger of an undertaking than we expected. Having to work  against unwanted audio, bad lighting, and shaky camera movement all at once is very difficult. A lot of our scenes were outside, with our only source of light being the sun. This made it challenging to get the lighting to appear as we wanted. However, the brightness adds to the youthful, warm, coming-of-age feel, so it all worked out! Being outside also made wind apparent in our audio, which was unwanted, but tolerable. As we move into post-production, we will need to record a voiceover for the very beginning of the sequence. This may present a few obstacles. However,...

  The opening scene of the movie  10 Things I Hate About You  uses strategic  mise  en   scene, cinematography, editing, and sound  to create meaning and  establish  genre. The film opens with a title  screen . T he words  are  edited over a shot of  the city of Seattle , written in a rough , sketch-like font. As the credits play, the song One Week by Barenaked Ladies is playi ng.  All  these factors  work together to  create  a  young,   rebellious vibe  that will  remain  eminent  throughou t the rest of the film.  The pan over the town continues until  it comes  to a  close - up  shot on a group of girls in a car , singing along to this song.  However, a new song, Bad Reputation by Joan Jett & the B lackhearts,  begins to overpower this song . The camera pans over to  another girl in her car, the source of this  new m...

    The  opening scene of the film Wonder uses  aspects of   film,  including  mise  en  scene, cinematography, editing, and sound,  to evoke meaning and introduce themes that will  re o c c ur   throughout  the movie.  The very first clip  is  very creatively filmed,  featuring a starry backdrop and a floating astronaut.  However, it is soon revealed that this is just the main character, Auggie, jumping on the bed with an astronaut helmet  on. This scene alone develops a lighthearted, youthful tone that will be present throughout.  In terms of cinematography, the shot begins with a close-up, dream-like shot. However, as the shot widens, it brings us back to the real world.  The voiceover also begins as the camera dollies out. Auggie begins to describe how he is  “not a normal kid” even though  his  hobbies  are ordinary. This draws us in, making the viewer wonder...

     The opening scene of the film  The Fault  in  Our Stars  uses  aspects of mise  en  scene, cinematography, editing, and sound to develop meaning and effectively set up the rest of the film.  It begins with a shot of the night  sky and  then cuts  to  an extreme close-up shot on   Hazel ’s eyes ,  the main  character .  This implies  that she is lying down, looking up at  the stars. This shot/reverse shot action develops a connection between the limitless sky and her.  It also shows that the night sky  will be of some importance throughout the rest of the film.  A voiceover begins, with Hazel explaining that “we have a choice...about how we tell sad stories.” She outlines the d esire  t o  sugarco at stories, focusing on their  happy ending , but  makes it clear that  this just is not realistic. The scene closes with Ha zel stating  “ ...

 My group and I have been solidifying our production plans for the past few days. Though we have not started the shooting process yet, we have prepared ourselves so that when it is time to start recording, things will run smoothly. We plan to record the bulk of the opening sequence the evening of 2/24. If we do not manage to finish up shooting then, we will meet after school the next day, 2/25. This plan should give us ample time to shoot all of our scenes, and maybe even brainstorm what our post-production/editing process may look like. We have also spent a lot of time going over our storyboard and script. This has ensured that we are all on the same page about the scenes our opening sequence will contain. We have also discussed what props and set features we are interested in including, to develop the desired aesthetic in the scenes. I am very excited to start producing this opening sequence, it's going to be great! 

 The title sequence of La La Land sets up the rest of the film wonderfully. We can see a clear development of the genre unfold. The impromptu dance routine and break-out into song introduces the fact that this movie is a musical. Art of Title classifies this selection as the main title card.  In our final project, the main title card will not be as extravagant. However, it will share the illustration and setup of the genre present in La La Land. In our opening sequence, we will develop the coming-of-age genre through the atmosphere of the setting, the characters, and the subject matter. It will have a youthful, fresh feel that will be present throughout the scene.