Question 7 - Preliminary to Final Product

International Audience Feedback

I received this feedback from a 40-year-old female in Japan. The feedback is very positive, and suggests that this genre, and my product specifically, can appeal to audiences in other cultures and countries.

Sound Recording

Unfortunately, there was an error with the audio on this video, but this is me creating the explosion sound with my guitars (part of the explosion sound, not all)...

Post-Production Process

Making the titles:



Motion tracking the titles:



Rotoscoping:



Creating the blowing leaves shot in After Effects:



Creating the empty road shot in Photoshop:





Masking in and out the first title:



Making the main title of the film:



Making the ruined park shot in Photoshop:

Sound Design

In terms of sound, in the first half, I want to have a low rumbling wind effect with a high bass level to build the tension. On top of that, I want slow violin music to be played on top of the wind sound in order to build the suspense. And finally, I want car horns for the first road shot, echoed children laughing for the swings shot, and other shot-specific sounds. I will not, however, be using any of the raw footage's sound.

Third Test Edit (First Half)

This is the third test edit of the first half of my film opening. I have "masked" out the rest of the shot behind the man in the second road shot, and I really like how smooth that transition looks now.

Audience Feedback

I "shared" my second test edit on Facebook and asked for feedback and suggestions for improvements, in order to stay in-touch with what audiences want to see. This is very easy to do nowadays due to the power of social media.

I received some feedback, and came to the conclusion that the scene cuts from the road to the park too suddenly. I already thought this to be so, but the feedback has made me sure of my decision to add another shot in-between those two shots. However, addressing the point about the shockwave hitting the camera too quickly, I will not change this because I intended for it to be fast in order to represent the speed at which the world as we know it is destroyed.

I agree with the scene needed a new shot in-between the dog jumping and the explosion shot, so I will probably add a shot of leaves blowing from a tree in order to slow the pace down again, and to represent the death of life (leaves falling from tree).

I will also be shortening the shot of the swings as I too now see that it lasts for too long. The current length of it brings one out of the scene and atmosphere as it makes it apparent that it is being filmed.

Second Test Edit (First Half)

I added the shot of the people walking by the road, and the one of the leaves blowing from the tree in the wind. I also shortened the shot of the children on the swings.

Although I like the scene much more now with the addition of these two new shots, I still want to furthermore enhance the smoothness of the transition from the cars and road shots to the park shots. To do this, I am going to make it so that as the man walks past the camera (foreground at the end of the second road shot), the next shot is revealed. I will create this effect by "masking" out the shot behind the man as he walks past, with the park shot as the below 'layer'. I imagine that this will work even better than it would if both shots were still shots as the park one quickly pans right at the start, and this is the direction the man is walking in.

Test Renders (Second Half)

The second half (post-apocalyptic half) of my film opening is by far the most time-comsuming to make. Each shot has a lot of visual effects on it. Here is the first set of test renders I have produced for them:


I created this scene by compiling parts of several different images together in Photoshop.



This shot of the road is not completed. I made a test render in order to see how the atmospherics looked with it. Those same atmospherics are not motion tracked to the shot in this render, but I am going to be tracking them now that I have decided to keep them in it as they add more movement to the shot.




Like the shot of the road, this one of the rubble is not finished. This test render was to see how slow the camera is moving after slowing it down, and to see how much time I have for the credits. I plan to add credits, atmospherics, and the main title into the eye part of the helmet at the end.

First Test Edit (First Half)

This is the first draft edit of the first half of my film opening.
 



After watching it play through, I felt as though there is something missing from it. I am going to capture some footage of a tree with leaves blowing off of it in a breeze and put that shot between the shots of the dog jumping and the children running. This tree shot will also be effective at showing the beauty of the world as it is before the apocalypse, and foreshadowing what is to come (the leaves blowing off).

I will also be making the swings shot shorter as it lasts too long and makes people realise that they are watching something that somebody filmed with a camera. I am also planning on filming a new shot to go between the shot of the cars, and the shot of the woman chasing after her dog.

Aside from these things, I am happy with the way it looks at the moment.

Filming - Day 2

Today's filming was somewhat disasterous. The footage I got was good, but, actually filming it was challenging due to the extreme winds that were blowing the armour off of my actor. On top of that, during the middle of one of the takes, an entire panel of the garden fence was blown off, followed by three more shortly after we'd finished. Despite our fearing for our lives as the wind tried to kill us with flying fence panels, it actually worked out pretty well for the footage as the half-blown-off panel, just before it was blown completely off, can be seen in one of the takes. This will actually help build the post-apocalyptic look.

After every take, we were having to put parts of the armour back on to my actor's body whilst making sure that the camera, mounted on a skateboard, wasn't taken away by the wind. In the end, though, I am happy with the footage I captured, and the wind actually makes a somewhat nice effect with the blowing of the weeds.

Test Renders (First Half)

After a successful day filming, I began editing the footage I captured. To begin with, I chose the clips I wanted to use, then trimmed them. I then "colour corrected" them and took advantage of the 60fps I shot them in and slowed them down using Adobe After Effects' 'time stretch' tool.

Here are some of the test renders I have done thus far:

Filming - Day 1

Today's filming went very well. I captured enough footage, and got all of the shots I planned to get. Thankfully, the weather stayed bright and sunny with relatively clear skies. No problems were encountered except the puppy temporarily "lost" (hid) his ball, which meant that I had to film the shots that would have had the ball in them in a way that didn't show the ball. The actors and actresses were cooperative and nobody else was already occupying the park.

All in all, it went swimmingly.

Font Test - 'Google Spies'

This is my test with the 'Google Spies' font. Although this font may at first have seemed more appropriate for how I will use it than the 'Seedy Motel' font would, that being in the lenses of a helmet, I prefer 'Seedy Motel'. On top of that, 'Seedy Motel', of course, looks more like a diner/motel sign, which relates to 'Fallout' quite a lot as signs like that can be found rather often across the Wasteland. This is because the diner/motel look relates to mid-1900s America -- this causes speculatation about when the apocalypse actually took place.

 

 

 Un-cropped:

 

 

Cropped:



Road Footage

I have been considering capturing some footage of a road for the first, and possibly the second, part(s) of my opening scene. Having now decided to do this, during the pre-apocalyptic part of the opening I want to show a busy road to furthermore emphasize the presence of Human life on the planet. In contrast, I might also show an empty and ruined road during the post-apocalyptic part of the opening to emphasise the absence of Human life.

 

However, another way of putting emphasis on life is through something like this:

 

This is a clip I found on YouTube when searching for examples of static road footage (of cars). I was slightly inspired by this to try shooting my own version, but, due to destroyed cars being a convention of the 'Post-Apocalyptic' genre, I am going to go with the car footage.



 

I used Google Maps to look for a nearby location that would be suitable to film these clips at. Ideally, a bridge over-looking a road would be perfect, and I managed to find just that.

 

Here is the location I found, and will try to capture these clips at:

 

 

 

Production Company Intros

Whilst researching production company intros, I noticed that a lot of them are comprised of several layers of 2D images that are all animated and come together. This is quite simple to make, however, there are other which have 3D animated elements as well.

A couple of years ago, I created a production company intro in-case I make any short films and/or animations. My main inspiration for this intro was the LucasFilm intro.



I am going to remake this intro and try to improve it based on the research I have done on the forms and conventions of industry production comapny intros.

Font Test - 'Seedy Motel'

I have began experimenting with the design of the main title for my movie. Whilst this particular design isn't neccessarily the final thing, it is the kind of thing I am going for which makes it suitable to test each of the fonts.

 

 

These designs are "unpolished" tests, and if chosen for the final design, they will be "polished".

 

Un-cropped:



 

 

Cropped:

Choosing a Title

Of course, I must think of a name for my movie. Based on my research of titles from the 'Post-Apocalyptic' genre, I have managed to think of some names that might suit my film.

Here's a list of my ideas:

"Desolation",
"The Smog",
"End",
"Dusk",
"After Light",
"Into Darkness",
"Into Blinding Darkness",
"The Dystopian".

After much consideration, I have decided to go with the title, "Desolation", as it is memorable and captures the essence of a post-apocalyptic world.

Choosing Fonts

An important part of making a film opening is choosing appropriate fonts. I have been looking at a wide range of fonts on the website, DaFont. I have seen a few that I like, and have narrowed it down to a choice between these fonts for the main title of the movie:

 

 

 

 



As for the credits, I also have a choice between two fonts:

 

 

[To be added]

 

 



On the one hand, the 'Birth of a Hero' font will match the genre better due to it being "eroded". But, on the other hand, I think that a "regular" font like [to be added] will look more professional and help viewers differenciate between which font is that of the main title and the credits' font.

Universal Studios

Universal Studios is another American film production and distribution studio that is owned by Comcast through its wholly owned subsidiary, NBCUniversal. Universal is another one of the 'Big Six', and owns 13.6% of the U.S./Canada market share.

Here are the results of my research of their filmography:

I found that Universal had been involved with the recent release, 'Oblivion'. This movie is a 'Post-Apocalyptic' movie which supposedly takes place after a war between Mankind and an alien race.









 After learning of their involvement with 'Oblivion', I researched their ealier filmography, however still post-2000. I noticed two movies on the list which are related to the end/potential end of the world/Mankind. 'Children of Men' is set in a dystopian world where babies are not being born, and 'Doomsday' takes place after the outbreak of a zombifying virus.

20th Century Fox

20th Century Fox is an American film production and distribution studio that is a subsidiary of the 21st Century Fox. 20th Century Fox is one of the 'Big Six', and owns %10.6 of the U.S./Canada market share.

I proceeded to research 20th Century Fox's filmography since the year 2000 in order to learn more about their most common genres.

I was unable to find any 'Post-Apocalyptic', or any movie related to the end of the world/Mankind in 20th Century Fox's filmography.

Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures is an American film production and distribution studio that is a subsidiary of the U.S. conglomerate, Viacom. Paramount is one of the 'Big Six', and owns %8.5 of the U.S./Canada market share.

I researched Paramount's filmography since the year 2000 so that I could learn more about their most common genres.

Whilst researching, I could only find one movie they had been involved that was about the end of the world, that movie being 'World War Z', an 'Apocalyptic' movie about a zombie apocalypse.

Columbia Pictures

Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution studio that is owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. Colombia is one of the 'Big Six', and owns %17 of the U.S./Canada market share.

I researched Columbia's filmography since the year 2000 to get an idea of which genres they tend to get involved with the most.

I noticed that the studio has not been involved with any 'Post-Apocalyptic' movies for the past four years, however, there have not really been any well-known movies of this genre made for the same amount of time. So, I looked at their filmography for the few years prior to 2010.
















I immediately noticed that Columbia was involved with 'Terminator: Salvation', and, although not actually a 'POST-Apocalyptic' movie, 'Zombieland' is also an 'Apocalyptic' story about the "end of the world". Columbia was also involved with '2012', a 'Disaster' movie about the world cracking apart. All of these were in 2009, which was not long ago.

Titles Research - General Order

I found, on Wikipedia, a list of the general order by which films usually show their opening credits. Of course, this does not apply to all films, as some may choose to challenge the conventional ways.

This order does match, somewhat, the orders in the opening title sequences I have looked at, which are of the same genre as my film opening. Therefore, I think I am going to use this order for my opening.

Weather Report for 13/11/2013

I researched the weather reports for the coming week, and saw that next Wednesday will be quite sunny. For the first part of my scene, I need a good amount of natural light and for it to be a nice and sunny day as that will out more emphasis on how nice the world we live in now is. The other days next week do have some sunshine, but they are somewhat cloudy. So, I now plan to film the first part of my film opening on Wednesday 13th November.

This weather report was taken from http://uk.weather.com/.

Choosing Locations - Back Garden

For the second part of my film opening, I need to create a long line of rubble and debris that I can motion track credits on to. My Grandmother's back garden has a lot of bricks and concrete slabs that are piled up ready to be disposed of. There is also a lot of gravel. I have asked if I may use these things to create the look of a line of parts blown off of buildings, et cetera. To make things more convenient, there is a driveway at the back of the garden and a gate which leads out on to a road behind the house. This concrete driveway is relatively smooth, which might allow me to use something like a skateboard as a dolly for the camera as I pan along the line of rubble.

'The Last Of Us' Opening Analysis

Above is a timeline specifying the timings of each title that is shown during the opening sequence for the 'Post-Apocalyptic' video game, 'The Last Of Us'. Whilst this is a video game as opposed to a movie, there are similarities which have remained consistent, such as 'visual effects' credits being roughly in the middle, and 'director' credits being near the start.

Here is the game's opening sequence:


The Last of Us - Title Sequence from henry hobson directing & design on Vimeo.

Armour Production Planning

Checklist of tools/equipment:

• hot glue gun (obtained 04/11/2013)
• heat gun (obtained 04/11/2013)
• rotary tool (obtained 04/11/2013)
• spray paints (obtained 06/11/2013)
• foam mats (already owned)
• utility belts (already owned)
• screws (obtained 06/11/2013)
• stanley knife (already owned)

I have searched videos on YouTube of other people's armour that they made using the tutorial I will be using as a guide. Here is an example of one person's outcome:

Lighting in 'The Road'

Killzone Intercept - Analysis

'Killzone Intercept' is a short fan film based in the 'Killzone' universe. I was particularly impressed with the costume design for all of the armour and gear the soldiers have in this short. For the end of my opening scene, I will be needing some heavy-looking armour. Watching this short film has given me the inspiration to fully decide on making my own armour for my scene.

What's more is the use of atmospherics in this short. The smoke/dust effects work really well for both making everything look really rough and gritty, and for making the battlegound atmosphere more mysterious. The 'rough and gritty' look is something that I want to achieve in the second part of my film opening which is the post-apocalyptic part. I might experiment with effects such as these during the post-production stage of making my scene.



After watching the 'Behind The Scenes' video for this short film, I learned that for the smoke/dust effects, they used actual homemade air cannons. Although I would like to try making these and using them, I doubt I will have the time to learn how to make them, make them, then test them and fix any problems with them if there are any. With that in-mind, I will stick to adding them in digitally during the post-production process.

Musical Score

My friend, who also plays the woman in the scene, is a pianist and violinist. What's more is that she wants to pursue a career in making music for films, and has already recorded some tracks in a studio. I have asked her if she would kindly compose the score for my opening scene, and she said 'yes'.

Here is an example of her recent work:

Actors and Actresses

For the children, I have asked two of my Cousins who both have toddlers if they would let me film them playing at the park. They both kindly obliged.

For the woman who will be at the park, I have asked my friend who looks very much like my visualisation of this character.

And for the dog, I asked my friend who will play the woman if she could bring her German Shepard puppy with her and play fetch with him on-camera.

Finally, a male friend will play the armoured person at the very end of the film opening. I will also model the armour around him when making it.

Here are my actors:

Costume Design - Armour

For the ending of my opening scene, I will need some futuristic, yet post-apocalyptic, armour. I have found a tutorial which might help me.



I am considering following this tutorial to make some similar amour, but making it look more post-apocalyptic-like with the paint work. My Cousin is a prop and designer for stage productions, so I will ask him if he would help me with the making of this armour costume.

Choosing Locations - Park

Since deciding to shoot the first part of my film opening at a park closer to where I live, I began searching for suitable parks in my area. I decided on a park next to hill as it had swings, and a small field next to it. Using this location will make it easier to transport equipment there and back, and for actors and actresses to get there as opposed to them going too far out of their way. A park will allow me to make use of children -- this will help target the female audience due to emotional attachments related to maternal nature. The initial idea of including children came from inspiration I took from the 'Terminator 2: Judgement Day' opening scene. I am also thinking of having a puppy in the scene. Everyone loves puppies.

Here are some images of the location:

New Concept

After looking back at my research, I have decided against the desert idea altogether, and now plan on filming at a local park. The main inspiration for my new idea was taken from both 'Terminator 2: Judgement Day', and 'Fallout 3'. The scene will start by showing people enjoying themselves at a park, children included. A woman with her dog (considering having a dog in the scene) will be the main recoccurring character seen in this scene. I will focus on the existence of flourishing life and the life-style that we know in the "real" world during this part. The transition to the post-apocalyptic landscape will happen when I show a nuclear explosion erupt in the background of a wide angle shot. In conrast, the world will then be darker, everything will be in ruin and rubble, and there will be no signs of life until a person wearing heavy armour steps into the final shot. The final shot will be a slow panning shot going along a line of rubble and debris, showing the bulk of the opening credits.

Choosing Locations - Mablethorpe Beach Idea

My Camera

The camera that I will be using to film my opening scene is my own Canon EOS 7D. The 7D has an 18.0 effective megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor, a 'liveview' mode, and dual DIGIC 4 image processors with 14-bit processing. It is caple of 1080p HD video recording at 24p, 25p, and 30p with 'drop frame' timing.

Several films and television series have used the Canon EOS 7D, including 'The Avengers', 'Black Swan', and 'Saturday Night Live'.

Choosing Type of Apocalyptic World

'The Road' Implications Analysis

In 'The Road', subtle implications are made which hint at the nature(s) of people. Mainly, the missing thumbs of some characters imply that they were once apart of some commune, and were perhaps outcasted. The missing thumbs also relate to the thing which differentiates Humans from other animals on Earth (Humans have thumbs whereas other animals don't); the cannibal characters shown do have thumbs, whereas the non-hostile characters do not -- this implies that the non-canibals have become the prey and are now the equivalent to pre-apocalypse Human-hunted animals.

Also relating to the 'animals' implication, neither "The Man" nor "The Boy" are given names in this movie, which relates back to primal Man when Humans hunted and were hunted.

Implications such as these can be very important in a 'Post-Apocalyptic' movie because they often focus heavily on the atmosphere and environment, as opposed to being told things during dialog between characters.

'The Road' Opening Scene Analysis

Similarly to 'Terminator 2: Judgtement Day', 'The Road' begins by showing the world just before the apocalypse up to when it starts. The scene then cuts to the "present" time with the main protagonist waking up, thus implying that the previously shown footage was his dream. Doing this in a 'Post-Apocalyptic' movie is effective as it shows the very sharp contrast between how the world used to be and what we have now, and the post-apocalyptic horror land. Scenes like this can also remind people of what we have, and that we should try to not complain as much, and be grateful that we aren't living in a post-apocalyptic wasteland.

I am considering doing this in my movie opening.

Roads in 'Post-Apocalyptic' Media

'Tether' Analysis

'Tether' was made by Corridor Digital for YouTube, and is set after a plague has wiped out most of Mankind. This setting gives quite a post-apocalyptic atmosphere. Corridor Digital draws a lot of attention to the emptiness of the world, and the lack of healthy lifeform with their wide angle shots and location choices.

I like the cinematography in 'Tether' as it really shows off the surroundings. The use of lens flares really helps imply a time-of-day, and add to the atmosphere.

Like with a lot of 'Post-Apocalyptic' things, 'Tether' has a "silent" person wearing power amour, which separates him/her from the rest of the characters.

'The Freelands' and 'The Book of Eli' Analysis

Both the opening scene in 'The Freelands', and the opening of 'The Book of Eli' show the main protagonist performing acts of survival.

On the one hand, 'The Book of Eli' opening utilises the tension-building non-diegetic sound that I have mentioned previously, which I really like. However, on the other hand, I quite like the slow and eirey music used in the opening of 'The Freelands' as it sets the depressing mood for the rest of the movie. A lot of emotion can be held and conveyed in and through music, and so I am now considering the use of slow-paced music in my opening scene.

'Fallout 3 Short Film: Deprivation' Analysis

'Fallout 3 Short Film: Deprivation' is somewhat of a continuation of Pwnisher's 'Population 1', by Brettsk8 (YouTube name).

The opening of this short film gave me the idea of starting my opening scene in black and white but showing a family outside having fun together and then a "mushroom cloud" appearing in the backgroud. I would then have a shockwave effect come at the camera very quickly and use somewhat heavy camera-shake. The scene would then slowly change to colour as the dust/dirt disappeared, thus revealing the now destroyed world.

'Fallout 3 Short Film: Population 1' Analysis

'Fallout 3 Short Film: Population 1' is a short, fan-made 'Fallout 3' film, by Pwnisher (YouTube name).

One of the things that I am inspired by in this short film is the non-diegetic sound used from about '1:21' to '3:00'. This noise prevents the audience from feeling completely comfortable and relaxed, and it helps to build tension as though to subtly imply that something bad could happen at any moment.

'Fallout 3' Opening Cinematic Analysis

As my playing of this game in 2008 is the reason as to why I like the 'Post-Apocalyptic' genre so much, I felt it to be only natural for me to take inspiration from it.



I like the slow moving camera in this cinematic, and how it gradually shows more of the post-apocalyptic world. I also really like how the climax of the scene is that of revealing that there is very much still life in the world, and that war and hostilities are still happening -- the mise-en-scene of the power armour-wearing person holding what is assumed to be a weapon (it is a laser rifle) implies this.

I am now considering the use of slow camera panning like this in my scene.

'Terminator 2: Judgement Day' Opening Scene Analysis

Although 'Terminator 2' isn't necessarily a 'Post-Apocalyptic' movie, the opening scene shows a cataclysmic event and then the aftermath (all set in the future).

I remember the power of this opening with its music, et cetera, so I turned to it for inspiration. This opening scene utilizes very powerful, slow, low-pitched music to create a heavy and emotional atmosphere. As for the visuals, we see children playing on a swing set, a busy road, et cetera. These things effectively enforce the point of their being flourishing life on Earth, and then the fire begins. After the fire, the scene is taken into the future of the post-apocalyptic world -- this immediate sharp contrast between the flourishing life at the beginning and the barren wasteland filled with skulls has a strong impact on the audience.

Another thing that I really like about this film opening is that after the fire stops and the world is shown as the post-apocalyptic wasteland, the music completely stops, and the scene is very quiet. This also adds to the contrast, and consequentially, the overall impact of the scene.

Vue 11

Vue 11 is the program that I have been using for the least amount of time, however, I am confident with using it. I plan to use this program to create a post-apocalyptic-looking ground which I will then use After Effects to add to the scene in-place of the raw footage's ground.

I have chosen to use Vue 11 because it is very effective at creating really realistic-looking environments -- I have practised creating such environments, and am confident that I will be able to use this program to create what I want for my scene.

As for the rendering of such realistic-looking 3D entities, I have already conducted multiple tests with my computer, and have determined that it is capable of rendering frames consisting of tens-of-millions of frames in only a few minutes.

Here are some of my tests:

Adobe Photoshop CS5.5

I will be using Adobe Photoshop CS5.5 to edit the still images of buildings in a way that makes them look destroyed and post-apocalyptic, before using After Effects to add them into my scene.

I am very, very familiar with this program. I have been using Photoshop for several years, and I am very capable of utilising all of the tools to help achieve my desire look for an image.

Adobe After Effects CS5.5

Adobe After Effects CS5.5, one of the programs that I shall be using to create the VFX for my scene, is a program that I am very familiar with and have lots of experience with. I have used After Effects for many projects in the past. I am capable of motion tracking with both the default motion tracker, and with the Mocha motion tracker. I will be relying on this program for the creation of the atmospherics in my scene, such as adding destroyed buildings to the background, "colour correcting", et cetera.

Initial Inspiration

My initial inspiration to go with the 'Post-Apocalyptic' genre came from my general love for the genre. I first began to fall in love with the genre in about 2008, when I first played the video game, 'Fallout 3'. I was "blown away" by the atmospherics of the game. The concept of a a vast city such as Washington D.C. being reduced to ruin by a cataclysmic event like a nuclear fallout was very, very enticing and interesting. I thoroughly enjoyed adventuring in the post-apocalyptic wasteland of D.C., and finding travellers trying to survive by any means necessary.

After playing 'Fallout 3', I started watching 'Post-Apocalyptic' movies such as 'The Road', 'The Book of Eli', et cetera. I found the genre to be very intriguing, and have always wanted to try creating such peculiar atmospheres myself. The feeling of emptiness and loneliness, yet knowing that life is still out there.

I also started getting into other kinds of 'Post-Apocalyptic'/'Apocalyptic' movies, like zombie movies. This is something else that I considered doing for my film opening as I love zombies movies/series, however, not the ones that just focus on the 'Horror' aspect. With zombie things, I much prefer the ones that focus on the apocalyptic atmosphere, and the survival aspect -- this usually involving large hordes of zombies being visible on-screen with the protagonists having to avoid detection whilst scavenging for food and supplies, as opposed to individual zombies jumping out of the shadows with a lot of close-ups being used. I decided not to use the 'zombie' idea though as it would require either very good make-up and costume(s), or extensive CG work to model and animate the zombies, which would be very time-consuming.

Editing Equipment

I feel confident enough to choose such a complex genre which may require heavy VFX as I have a very powerful PC capable of rendering millions upon millions of 3D polygons per frame at a decent speed. I have tested this several times.

The PC that I will be using to edit my film opening with is HP ENVY h8-1590ea.

This PC is a 64-bit machine with 16GB of RAM, a 3TB hard drive, Intel Core i7 3770 processor with an operating speed of 3.4 GHz, and a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 graphics card.
















I will be using several editing programs to create the VFX for the scene, and edit it together, consisting of:

Adobe Premier Pro, 

Adobe After Effects,

Adobe Photoshop,

and Vue 11.

To compose the music, I will be using Fruity Loops Studio 11,

and Audacity.

Choosing Genre

Deciding on the genre for my film opening was somewhat of a difficult choice. On the one hand, I wanted to make a 'Post-Apocalyptic' movie opening with a really strong atmospheric value. However, on the other hand, I was conscious of the potential complexity of such a genre, and so I considered other genres which I thought might be simpler.

I considered creating a generic 'Action' movie opening, focussing on a team of highly skilled individuals breaking into a complex, then an apparent problem presenting itself. I also considered making a 'Sci-Fi' scene and, whilst this would also be somewhat complex, the level of complexity could potentially be significantly lower than that of the 'Post-Apocalyptic' genre. The 'Sci-Fi' scene would have involved a 3D animated space battle/setting. Finally, I considered going with somewhat of a 'Musical' genre, after being inspired by how terrible 'Les Miserables' is I thought about trying to making a decent 'Musical' scene. Had I chosen this genre, I most likely would have tried to create a "light-hearted" 'Rock Musical' focussing mainly on the guitars.

Ultimately though, I decided to go with the 'Post-Apocalyptic' genre as it is truly what I WANT to make the most, and will be the most passionate about, which is something that I consider to be important with film-making. I did, however, try to simplify my idea for the opening and to some extent, I did.

Welcome

Hello, my name is Richard, and welcome to my 'AS' Media Studies blog.

On this blog, I will document all that I research and am inspired by, and my creating decisions and ideas throughout the research and planning, production, and post-production stages.

I chose to study Media as I am intersted by it, and would like to pursue a career in film-making. As well as Media, I am also studying Enlgish (Language and Literature), and Photography. Both of these subjects link well with Media in terms of both analytical practice, and camera-use.

I am heavily influenced by Japanese culture, and watc and listen to a lot of Japanese television, movies, and music. My favourite music genre is 'Rock', and my favourite band is The GazettE, a Japanese band.

http://www.pscompany.co.jp/gazette/





As for my taste in movies, my favourite movies are all six 'Star Wars' movies, and my favourite director is George Lucas. Aside from 'Star Wars', my favourite movie is 'The Last Samurai'.





I do not really watch many Western television shows, but I do watch a lot of Japanese anime and game shows. An anime that I have watched recently is 'Btooom!', which is a similar concept to the Japanese movie 'Battle Royale', and 'The Hunger Games', wherein people are kidnapped and taken to an island where they are made to fight and kill each other to survive. 'Btooom' also focusses on the aspect of lonliness and desolation on the island, much like 'Post-Apocalyptic' things do.