The Genie is a fictional character and a protagonist from the Disney animated movie Aladdin, as well as related series and sequels.
Like most popular depictions of genies, Disney Genie was originally a slave. Though he possessed "phenomenal cosmic powers", he was bound to an "itty-bitty living space" and could only use his powers when the owner of the lamp (his master) made a wish; he occasionally does things without granting a wish, but never anything that greatly affects the world around him. He is also bound by 3 laws; He can't kill anyone, he can't make people fall in love and he can't revive the dead. It is possible, however, that he can do the third one, but that, as he puts it; "It's not a pretty picture. I don't like doing it!". Each master has three such wishes, and cannot exceed this amount by wishing for more wishes. The lamp came into the possession of the character Aladdin during the course of the first film, and he remained in servitude until Aladdin used his third and final wish to grant Genie his freedom at the end of the film.

This character is similar to Jewel the genie in our sequence.

Lucy Pevensie - is the youngest Pevensie child. She is the first of them to discover the land of Narnia when she slips through the magical wardrobe in the professor's house. When Lucy tells her siblings, Peter and Susan refuse to believe her and are convinced that she is just having a game, while Edmund persistently encourages and teases her about it. After the restoration of Narnia, Lucy is crowned Queen of Narnia with her sister Susan, and becomes known as Queen Lucy the Valiant.

- This is a character from Narnia that is similar to the character Ben in our children's film sequence.

Feedback About Opening Sequence

We got feedback from the rest of the class:

Was there a variety of shots?
The majority of the class answered yes, that there were a wide variety of shots in the opening sequence. The shots were consistent and

Mise-en-scene considered enough?
Genie could of been dressed up to make it obvious.
Box was a good prop

Editing? Were the transitions good and was the editing continuous?
Edited well, apart from camerawork at beginning.
Continually editing, dissolves, cannot hear voice over at start.
Good editing , slick transmissions.

Sound appropriate? Voice-over? Sountrack? Atmosphere?
Narrator is a calming presence.
No sound at all when from 1:13 to 1:33. Good voice over.

What does the sequence tell you about the whole film? i.e.characters, narrative, genre
Narrator is a calming presence.
Happy adventure, Ben main character.
Nice, happy. Fun childish adventure mixed with music.
Very jolly.
Start is like a normal film then changes into a childrens film.
Is not clear that will happen in rest of film.

Evaluation of Opening Sequence of Hercules

Camera Shots:

• Establishing shot shows us a pan across to a long shot of the temple

• Shot is then zoomed closer into the pot

• Fade to close up of the pot where you can see the five women.

• Then have a medium shot of all of the women at different points.

• Quickly to long shot of them women climbing down the stairs and of the Titans.

• Quick flashes between medium and long shots of Zeus, The Women and The Titans.

• Close up of the flashing faces

• Long shot of the women in the plate and of pot of Zeus.

• Medium shot of all the women at same time.

• Quick flash to long shot of them beside the pot.

Lighting:

Because this film is an animation, the lighting is all done digitally, so it is a bit harder to pin point where the light is intended to be like that. Some bits of lighting that stand out, are at the very beginning when it is all very dark apart from one shaft of light on the pot of Hercules. Other main points of interest with the lighting, are when the bad characters come in, e.g. The Titans, the light goes very dark as if to emphasise the point that they are the villains. The main colour of lighting is a violet colour for the women. This can sometimes change but is mostly the same colour. One time when it is different, is when there are the disco lights on the faces of the women and there are lots of different colours. One final point of the lighting is when the story is being told, there is a more orange/brown light, as if the story is being told off of the pot.

Costume:

The costumes that are designed by the animators fit perfectly with the role of Ancient Greece, as the women are dressed in robes, traditional to the time period that the film is set. The characters that are on the pot, e.g. Zeus, are made to look like drawings, so they have no real costume to comment on. Apart from the heroes are drawn in a white stencil, whereas the villains are drawn in black stencil.

Actors:

All of the characters in this film are voice-overs. The opening narrator is made to have a deep booming voice, to make the film look like a traditional tale about Ancient Greece. When the women come in, they are made to sound much livelier and to make the story seem more fun and entertaining. This is because the opening narrator would soon bore children, but with the women singing, it makes the film much more entertaining for the younger viewers.

Hercules uses a lot of iconography, as the story is based on an ancient myth from Greece. The sequence contains a lot of material related to the original Ancient tale, to make the film seem like it fits perfectly with the period that it is meant to be set in. Also, by making the opening sequence lively and full of fun, the audience will instantly be hooked, as they want to see if there will be anymore songs etc. and what will happen in the film that, to a younger viewer, would seem very imaginative and exciting.

Ben's Mystical Box Video

This is the final video of our AS Childrens Film
We are pleased with the video, given the amount of time we had to make and edit it.
There are a few minor faults with the video, that we would improve if given more time;
-Some of the voice over/soundtrack is not always 100% in sync with the video.
- We could have edited the brightness and contrast if given more time
Overall we are all very pleased with the outcome of the video and have enjoyed making it.

BEN'S MYSTICAL BOX

TO CLARIFY THE TITLE OF OUR CHILDREN'S FILM SEQUENCE IS 'BEN MYSTICAL BOX'.

STARRING : LONDIE NCUBE AND BEN SHIMMENS

CAMERA WORK : LEWIS SHEPHERD

SOUND EDITING : ALEX IRVINE

DIRECTED BY : BEN SHIMMENS

EDITED BY : BEN SHIMMENS & LEWIS SHERPERD

SOUDNTRACK MADE BY : LONDIE NCUBE & ALEX IRVINE

Voice Over - Ben's Mystical Box

We decided to do a voice over for our film as it didn't have a lot of narrative in it and this would make it easier to understand. We used a microphone to record the voice over. We had no difficulties doing this although when it came to editing it was hard making sure everything was in sync. The purpose of the voice over was to tell a story to the audience and to connect with the viewers. It was also so the audience were not confused by the sequence and they were up to date about what was happening. There is not a lot of speech in the sequence because it gives a sense mystery and we thought it would relate to children more. Overall we were happy with the voice over but we cut it at some points because it was lengthy and we thought it was too dominant.

Analysis of Flushed Away

The opening sequence starts with an introduction to the main character. The mood and atmosphere is cheerful. You can tell from this opening sequence that it is a children's film. The film is created using stop motion but is continuous and maintains a flowing sequence throughout. In the sequence there are quick shot changes and some techniques are repeated throughout the sequence. These include pan shots and zooming out of a shot. All events are in chronological order so it is not confusing to the audience which is ideal as it is a children's film. The audience is introduced to a setting at the start of the film and it is maintained throughout the opening sequence and we get to know it quite well which indicates that it is a key setting for the film. It's a short opening sequence but very effective. I think it will help our group with our sequence because it gives away that it is a children's film and effectively introduces the key setting and characters to the audience which is what we need to do. It is a fun film to watch, with voice casts including Kate Winslet, Hugh Jackman, & Ian McKellen, it is nice to see the little touches for the adults to

Link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5N_TnsREXo

Analysing an opening sequence of a film.

The film sequence I have decided to analyse is Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging. I chose this particular film because I think it has a lot of camera shots and angles throughout. I analysed the opening titles.

Camera shots
It starts off with the main character walking down the road with the camera looking at her dad driving so all you can see of her is shoulders to middle; through the driver’s window. This shot is called a two shot because there are two people in the shot, even though you can’t see her face.
As it moves on, she enters a house where a fancy dress party is happening and as soon as she walks in, the other characters perform a reaction shot because of what she is wearing.
She walks through the room on a medium shot, this way you can see her reaction as well as the people around her’s reaction.
When she is by her friends there is a mixed range of shots: over shoulder – when there is a disagreement between the friends and then there is a close up when the main character gets upset. She runs out of the house and it flashes from a medium to long to extreme long shot, as she runs the whole way home.

Sound
There isn’t really a lot of sound, apart from when she is running home and as she is doing so, a song is played. There are the odd sound effects like people talking and laughing, or cars honking. Also the setting as she is running home is a seaside so you occasionally hear bird noises or waves etc.

Mise - en –Scene
The setting of the opening, is a row of houses, this is when she is walking along side the car. The lighting for this scene is natural, because it was outside, although there may have been a bit of editing because the weather might have been bad.

The setting of the party is a room in a house. There are people sat on sofa’s/ stood up in fancy dress; which means there would be a multitude of different costumes, there is food and drink on tables so the lighting could be either artificial or natural depending on if there was a light on. It wasn’t very clear.

As she is running home along Eastbourne pier in an olive costume, there are old people sat, staring and laughing at her on benches. The lighting is bright and sunny therefore natural.

Editing
I think throughout the entire film there would have been editing, because the weather wouldn’t have always been bright so they might of edited colour into the sky.

At the end of the titles there is a shot where Georgia (main character) storms off to her room upset, and it flashes back and forth to her dad clearing up the stamped-on olive costume. This is called parallel editing.
I also think that there is a lot of continuity (invisible) editing because the title sequence is very linked, there is no obvious editing done, that you can immediately see of.

In conclusion I think that the range of techniques used in this film sequence, really interlinks well with each other, therefore creating a smooth, straight run through of the opening titles.

Script for Childrens film - Ben's Mystical Box

Beginning -
Ben was 11 years old and clueless of the world. He was a happy boy. Ben loved the outdoors, he loved the fresh air, the blooming flowers, full of life and the sound of the wind blowing through the trees. Ben's woodland walk was his favorite place.

Woodland Walk - Ben was curious of the wonderful treasures of life. He was determined to learn something new every day. This day Ben was sure that he would discover something new, and he was right.

Finding of the box - Ben's discovery of the the box would take him on an adventure he never thought possible. Part of him was just being a kid when he got into the box, but another part of him was sure that there was more to it. When he found the box to be magical he was astonished but more confused and everything seemed a blur. Ben was left with no answers.

Corridor - Ben just wanted someone to explain what had gone on. He was stranded in a deserted school. This is where Jewel comes into the story.

*This was a draft script and we used as a guideline for the voice over and it helped us know what we needed to say but the actual script is quite different and more continuous and flowing.

Analysis of Space Jam Opening Titles

Analysis of Space Jam Opening Titles

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjGPA64ZIY8

At the start it begins with a clear night sky and a shooting star crossing the screen, then the camera pans down to uncover the bright white full moon. Then the camera tracks down to a young boy playing basketball in his back yard. As the camera tracks down to the child, the song "I believe I can fly"- R Kelly starts to play. The next shot is a reverse shot, still showing the boy playing basketball with the words SUMMER 1973 fading into picture. This sets the scene, explaining the time period of the film and introducing the character. As the boy continues to shoot baskets a light appears from the house and a man is visible walking towards the window. Subsequently the following shot is a mid close-up of the man at the window. Then as the man opens the door there is a shot reverse shot, when the man says the boys name "Michael" and the boy turns after hearing his voice. Dialogue between the two quickly establishes that the man is the boys son. Character assignment begins, with the young boy being called Michael and his father. During the dialogue the father is trying to persuade Michael to come inside because it was late. Throughout the first two minutes allot has been explained, the theme of the movie has been indicated by the boy playing basketball late into the night. There is a great emphasis on basketball in the next two and half minutes of the titles. Following the dialogue between the two Michael goes for one last shot. In slow motion he runs towards the hoop and in mid air flashes of the actual Michael Jordan appears. Evidently Michael Jordan plays a pivotal roll in the film, and the rest of the titles depict flash clips of his basketball career while also rapidly introducing the cast with a flash effect.

Filming

Day 1:

Today we took the camera and tripod onto the long road site. We found our settings that we thought were appropriate for our film. 'Ben's Woodland' walk was the setting we agreed on. It was related to the film and was within the long road site. We also filmed in the corridor of C Block. It was difficult trying to find settings as we couldn't go out of the Long Road site. When we found the settings we had more of an idea about our opening sequence. We didn't really use the tripod and i think looking back it would have been better if we did.

Day 2 :

Today we found a box so we had to film all the shots that we couldn't do without the box. Our only difficulty today was change of clothing. Although there was nothing we could do about it the shots looked weird as the characters had changed clothes.

Day 3 :

Today we just had to make sure that all our filming was done and film any remaining shots that we needed to. It was the last day we needed to film. We had difficulties trying to film in the corridors today as there were a lot of people walking through.

Juno (Music Video - All I Want Is You):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20PQBtyfNZY

Narnia (Wardrobe Scene):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rWwpFAz-cg

Sony BRAVIA bouncy ball advert:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_51UcmBbBY

These are some of the music videos we looked at for some ideas. Some of them had good animation that we thought we could use in our sequence and some gave us ideas on our plot. Many of them were not directed at children but had ideas that we thought we could adapt and use in our opening sequence.

Ideas for Opening Sequence

Ideas for opening sequence:

First Idea:
This idea would start off by giving the viewer an idea of horror with a main character running through a forest. This would then flashback and start telling the story, changing the mood to happy and relaxed. There would be four main characters as children in the film and the genre would be adventure.

Second Idea:
This idea would involve doing some sort of parody of the Ghostbusters. We would be running through the school with supersoakers attached to backpacks in the form of guns. We haven't really developed this idea, but thought it might make a good opening sequence for a funny children's film.

Third Idea:
Our third idea was along the lines of having a board game such as Monopoly, come to life and make imaginary creatures chase us around the school. Once again, this idea has not been fully developed so we are not 100% on it, but thought this would be another funny idea for a children's film.

Mr Magoriums Wonder Emporium

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRvR6zYmF54&feature=related

For the first two/three minutes of the film, there are animated titles. These are a direct clue that this is a children’s film. The animations and the music in the background work well to set the mood. The titles at the start of the film give the viewers minor clues to the narrative. The animations then fade out and into the first shot. This effect means the viewer is only shown part of the mise-en-scene but gradually expands to give the full picture. This is quite effective as in doesn’t give you the full picture straight away. The shot change after this drag on a lot longer as it is a pan of a bouncing ball. The narrator in the background introduces the story and relates to the viewers by talking directly at them. The voice of the narrator is child-like and he uses colloquial language. This means the audience (children) can relate to him more. He tells the story and talks about the main characters in the film, giving us clues to the narrative. The audience is then introduced to a character as well as his setting and surroundings. We are not introduced to the main characters or setting straight away which mis-leads the audience. The atmosphere seems to be calm. With all the clues form the opening the genre of the film seems to be adventure/ fantasy. There is a continuous and logical flow throughout the sequence. There are no quick shot changes and I think this helps the audience (children) understand the sequence easier. The narrator is also in time with everything that the viewers see. The music is also in time with everything that the viewers see, it goes from high to low remaining in sync with the narrator and the mood and atmosphere. This opening sequence is engaging and maintains a continuous flow through the sequence which I think we need to consider in making our opening sequence.

Storyboard Viewing

Storyboards:

As a group we watched Back to the Future to help improve our story boarding. After watching a short opening sequence of the film we had to storyboard it. This helped us to understand what type of shots we would need to use in a storyboard plan.

We took down notes, on the sound, camera shots, character movement and the significant images. After that we used the information we had obtained from the sequence and split it into significant sections using a story board planner.

Storyboard 1:











Storyboard 2:

Evaluation of Opening Scene to Aladdin

Evaluation of Opening Scene to Aladdin

Camera Shots:
The establishing shot shows a trail of wispy smoke appearing in a medium shot, and the credits start to appear.
There is then a fade and the shot pans across the desert and zooms in towards the rider.
Another fade to a long shot of the rider on the camel which then pans down to a medium shot of the camel's hooves.
Quick pan up to a long shot of the city into which the rider is travelling
Zoom shot down through the city streets to the fire breather.
Shot of smoke which fades to a panning long shot of the rider on the camel
Quick zoom to extreme close up of the face
Quick zoom back to medium shot of the rider, pans across as he runs
Snaps to long shot of rider's merchandise stall
Zooms in for medium shot of stall
Panning medium shot across the screen
Close up of the lamp, zooms in closer
Snaps to medium shot of rider holding the lamp
Close up of rider's face, goes to extreme close up
Snaps to medium shot of rider
Snaps to long shot of him throwing the dust into the sky

Characters:
In the opening sequence there is only one character introduced. This is the traveller that is riding on a camel. The whole of the opening sequence is this character singing the song 'Arabian Nights'. The actor who plays him is voice-over, as is everyone in this film, because it is an animation. He plays a stereotypical trader very well, and even puts on a bit of an Arabian accent for added effect.

Atmosphere/Mood:
The atmosphere in the opening sequence is one of tension and of apprehension. Because there is use of music, it creates a dark and forbidding mood, this is good however, as it keeps the viewer interested in the film and makes them keep watching to find out what is going to happen next.
Sound:
The sound in the sequence is really dramatic and gets the viewer interested in the film and makes them want to stay and watch the rest of it. By using a musical based film, that is common of Disney, it makes the young audience remember the catchy songs and make them want to stay and watch the rest of the film just in case there are some more songs that are better then the previous ones.

Costume:
The costumes in this film are designed perfectly to fit the place that the film is set in. The traveller is dressed in traditional Arabic robes with a turban on his head, this is a correct form of dress for the time that the film is set in.

Aladdin, like many films, uses a lot of iconography to reference the film to historical context that makes the film seem like it is rightly done and set in the right period of time.

What is a Children's Film?:

A children's film is a film that is made specifically for the viewing of under twelves. This means that the content of the film has to very mild and suitable for children. The film has to be appropriate and clearly separate from a family or teenagers film. This means that the film has to be classified as a U or PG film.






What is a U Certificate?
A U film is suitable for everyone, specifically anyone over the age of four. This sort of film should not have any horror in, but if it has, this should be corrected immediatly with something reassuring. There should be no discrimination or drugs, horror should be infrequent and language should be very mild. There should only be natural nudity and mild sexual behaviour, e.g. mild kissing.



What is a PG Certificate?
A PG film stands for parental guidance, this means that a child can watch a film with their parent's consent. The film should not disturb anyone around the age of 8 or older. Discrimination cannot be used unless for historical or educational purposes, Horror should not last for long and sexual reference can be implied in the way of an innuendo.



What is the BBFC?
The BBFC stands for the British Board of Film Classification.They are an independent and a non-governmental body. It is the organisation legally responsible fro film classification in the United Kingdom. They are responsible for the current certificates like PG,U and 12 etc.

Analysis of Lemony Snicket

Characters
Viewers are mislead by being introduced to elves who do not play a part in the film. We are mislead to believe they are the main characters when in fact they are not integral to the storyline. The sudden change from the elves to the actual storyline unsettles the viewers, giving them an uneasy atmosphere.
We are then introduced to the three main characters, who are given a personal profile, which informs the viewer more about the characters. This makes the audience feel they can relate to the characters and the situation they are in. The children also gain sympathy from the audience at this point

Narrative/Themes
The main themes addressed in the opening sequence are; Family, Love, Sadness and Loss, Tragedy and Searching for Truth. There is also a dark and forbidding atmosphere throughout the opening sequence. It makes the audience feel uneasy and unsettles them. The sequence leaves us asking questions about what is to come. This makes the viewer want to stay and watch the rest of the film.

Hello

Hi

We are studying Media AS and our current project is the opening sequence of a children's film.

Firstly there is Ben .. the guy with the glasses
Alex .. the mute
Lewis, we don't know what he is
Londie, yeah well... enough said really

We are going to make the best children's opening sequence in the history of Long Road Media. Ever. Fact! :)

Welcome

PRELIMINARY TASK (LONDI, ALEX, BEN S.)




PRELIM TASK (LEWIS)