Rough cut of our opening title sequence

This is the first rough cut of our opening title sequence. From this we have made many improvements, but without this rough cut, we would not of been able to structure our final opening title sequence as quickly as we did. This is because this draft version, acted as a base of which we could build on to come to our final opening title sequence.

One of the major improvements we made was through the lack of editing transitions. The rough cut consisted of simple cuts, with no fade transitions or dissolves. Therefore for the final opening title sequence we implemented a few editing fades to make the sequence look of a better quality.

We also reduced the length of some of the clips as they were quite long, and they made the audience loose a sense of atmosphere and tension, as they simply watched one of the characters looking through a draw for almost 10 seconds, which in a sequence that is only 2 minutes, that is a long time. Therefore we reduced the length of this scene to only 5 seconds, to keep the audience interested and not loose any atmosphere or tension.

We also added titles to our opening title sequence. The draft version did not include any titles, so thereby we added lots of them in order to for fill another convention of thriller opening title sequences. Without them, our sequence would not follow the conventions of thriller opening title sequences, an thereby be marked down by the examiner.

This is the final version of our opening title sequence, to demonstrate a clear comparisen of how the quality of our sequence has improved from the first draft to the final version.

My contribution to pre production and Construction of the opening title sequence

When planning the pre production of my groups opening title sequence, we decided to divide the work up into improve the overall quality of our pre production work. I was responsible for the treatment of our film. i was assigned this section of the pre production work as it was the one that required the most amount of information,  it described the entire story that our opening title sequence would be part of. As well as doing this, I also went to the effort of heading into Hemel Hempstead town centre, to film a possible location to film our opening title sequence, as the member who was assigned this role, was having difficulties finding a suitable location. In the end we decided not to use this location due to the fact that it would be illegal to point weaponry at the public without informing them. However it still remains as a useful comparison to the actual location that we used to film our opening title sequence.

In the opening title sequence its self, I acted as an assassin, providing an unexpected twist to the sequence. However, I was responsible for all of the camerawork. This meant that I was responsible for deciding on how a particular scene should be shot, and weather it should consist of high shots, low shots, close ups, long shots, and pans, along with many other types of shots. This meant that I had a crucial role in how certain characters are portrayed in a strong, powerful way or a weak, vulnerable way.

In the sequence, I am listed as: 'Starring',  'Filed By', and 'Executive Porducer'. I was chosen to be the executive producer because i was involved on the entire production of the sequence. This meant that I was in charge of how the overall production of the film from how the weapons looked, to how the characters should look in close ups.

I was also helped edit the title sequence. I definitely can not take all the credit for this as the orignal base sequence was made by Fateh Khaled, and a lot of the editing transitions like fades and dissolves were done by Jeremy Cannock. However, i did edit all the Foley and lip syncing into the title sequence.

Pre Production - Risk Assessment for my opening title sequence

This is my risk assessment, the purpose of the risk assessment is to outline all the possible potential risks and how to solve them if we do ever come across them. Within our risk assessment one of the main outlined risk was the fact that as our project consists of the use of weaponry, this was a huge concern especially to the neighbourhood because if we were spotted with weapons (even though they were model guns) the neighbours wouldn't be able to distinguish the difference between the two, furthermore this could have resulted into police matters; which is why we informed the neighbours in advance prior to the production day in the next couple of weeks. When creating the risk assessment, I thought of all possible hazardous risks and put them together with a solution, so when it comes to filming we make minimal mistakes and are extra precautious. - Fateh Khaled

Pre Production: Equipment

Pre-Production: Props

This is the preproduction on the equipment used for filming the opening title sequence, created by Jeremy Cannock.

 

My first priority was to secure weapons for the two police officers, I though that hand guns would be preferable and fortunately I owned two BB guns that we could use. However the hand guns where originally blue so I had to spray paint them black in order to make them look realistic and not ruin the illusion of the film. Once painted the guns looked good but I added a silver finish to a small section on the barrel where the firing chamber would be exposed when fired, making the guns as realistic as possible. 

 The other gun that I needed was a sniper rifle for the assassin to use when shooting, I was firstly unsure how I was going to get hold of this and if we would then be able to film it in a public space. Fortunately I persuaded a friend to let use his air rifle for the filming although he had to be present while we had it in the open and we changed the location to my house which is a more secluded to avoid any scares where people called the police about young adult brandishing weapons.

I also needed a shell casing from a round that had already been fired from a weapon but unfortunately I couldn't get hold of one so had to use an empty shotgun casing that I had at home.

We also needed a rifle for the assassin to use, fortunately I knew someone who owned and was licensed to use an air rifle and I managed to persuade him to let us use his rifle for filming but he had to be present during the time we had it in public view.

Pre Production - Storyboard for my opening title sequnece

Pre-Production: Storyboard

This will give our group a brief outline of the main scenes to take place during the Opening Title Sequence in the form of a storyboard created by Jacob Osman.

It outlines the order in which the opening sequence will made constructed and it also outlines

Pre Production - Costume For my opening title sequence

Preproduction: Costume



Jeremy Cannock was tasked with deciding and acquiring costumes which we would need in our opening title sequence. This the preproduction work on costume that he produced.


To do this I looked at other police themed film/tv shows to get inspiration, such as Hawaii 5-0, NCIS and Hot Fuzz. I found that I took the most inspiration from the costumes of Hawaii 5-0, as I thought that the shirt and tie with a protective vest over the top suited the 'detective' characters I had to create. However as our film would be set in England I decided to look at an British biased police film, I looked at the character on the left as his costumed fitted the profile extremely well but the fact that hot fuzz is a comedy and the fact that this character seems overloaded with weapons seem too over the top and adds a comical effect to the scene (something that I did not want to recreate in my own work).

 From this picture you can see the costumes that we used in our final OTS, I decided that the superior agent (right) should be the one with the gear like a hip holster and tactical vest was it reflects his increased experience. But mainly this was down to lack of resources and only being able to secure one vest for when we where shooting, however I added dialogue to the script where the superior agent asks his partner why he is not wearing his vest in order to avoid any confusion for the audience. The other agent wore a black suit showing that he was official and black is an excellent colour for urban camouflage, black also connotes death and provides a subtle foreshadow to the fate of his partner.

Tactical vest worn by superior agent (borrowed from a friend)

Over all I think that the costumes worked very well as they where realistic enough to make the film believable and not ruin the atmosphere and people where easily able to identify that they where some form of law enforcement by looking at their clothing.

Hip holster (bought from army surplus shop)

Hip holster worn by superior agent

                                             

Pre Production - Shot list for my opening title sequence

Shot List

Pre Production

Below is a shot list which I created as part of my groups pre-production. I had to outline all the possible shots that were going to be constructed on the filming day. As you can see there were 39 shots altogether, and I also outlined what shot it was itself (for example, saying whether it was a medium close up, or a long shot etc), I also stated how long each individual shot will last as well as given a brief explanation on what happens in each shot.

Created by Fateh Khaled

Pre Production - Location For My Opening Title Sequence

Pre Production - Location - Fateh Khaled from Fateh Khaled

We did have two possible locations for us to film the opening title sequence, one based in Hemel Hempstead town centre, and the other at Jeremy Cannocks's house. This allowed the group to make a good, clear comparison about which location was best to suit our specifications for our sequence, and also match our genre which was thriller. In the end, we decided to use Jeremy's house as it provided a realistic location for a thriller opening title sequence to be located, and we were also allowed to use guns the premises, whereas in Hemel Hempstaed town centre, we were not allowed to use guns due to legality reasons.

Pre Production - Treatment For My Opening Title Sequence

Loglines Into Treatment

'A police officer seeks revenge for the death of his partner, who was murdered by an infamous assassin'

At the start of the film, two agents are sent to investigate a local abandoned house, after being told that there is the possibility that a major criminal could be using it as a headquarters to hold their captured colleague. The captured agent is thought to of been captured because he was investigating the groups previous crimes, and was on a close lead to arresting the group. However the group logged on to the fact that he was doing this, and has kept him hostage for the last month previous to the 2 agents being sent to investigate the house. The criminal believed to being holding their colleague hostage is known to be part of a gang that has had many wrong doings such as money laundering, drug dealing and assassination attempts, which they have carried out in the past. The group have been previously convicted of ruthless crimes like these, but have managed to evade the police every time, and thereby naming themselves the ‘Get Away Group’. The group is composed of 4 members, each of which are highly trained and have crucial links to other major criminals located around the city. On the other hand the two agents are at a complete contrast with one another. The lead agent has spent many years in the job, and is highly advanced in knowing what to expect when, approaching dangerous scenarios such as these. His colleague on the other hand is in his first year, and has been assigned to be the apprentice of his far more experienced colleague.  

Just as the two agents arrive and reach the entrance to the building, they feel at risk that someone is watching them, little do they know, that someone is indeed watching them at a high vantage point at the top of scaffolding. The lead agent then tells his young counterpart that he should 'not do anything stupid' stay behind him at all times, regardless of the situation. Just as the lead agent enters the house, he barges in, announcing his presence in the house. A few moments later, they reach the house, and start to investigate around the acctual inside of the house. Later on, the two agents meet again in the kitchen and discuss where their colleague could be. The young counterpart fatally decides to suggest the his experienced leader that he 'should check outside'.

It is at this point in which the assassin on the scaffolding is able to get a sight on the lead officer, and after tracking the officer walking into a shed outside, the assassin begins to put his finger on the trigger and get a clearer line of sight on the agent. A few minutes later the assassin sees the agent discover a vital piece of evidence that he had hidden from everyone to see. In an act of controlled desperation, he decides to assassinate the officer at the exact moment that the officer looks up and sees him up in his vantage location.

After hearing the his boss fall to the floor with a bullet hole in his chest, he called for more units to arrive and take down the assassin from his unknown location. When the police officers arrive, they instantly receive information that the house is home to the assassin of the 'Get Away Group', and thereby proceed with caution. The police bring 8 units to the scene, vastly out numbering the mysterious assassin in an unknwown location to them. They proceed into the building from every entrance, surrounding the criminals. Each police officer is armed with a normal pistol and bullet proof vest in case things get out of hand. The assassin realizes what is happening long before they arrive, he tries to make a desperate lunge for freedom, by climbing down the scaffolding, and jumping to the ground. It came to no avail however, as when he landed on the ground, he attracted attention to himself and was followed by police helicopter all the way back to his gangs headquarters.

A few hours later, the police surround the headquarters, in a abandoned, run down room in the top floor of building in the heart of a local village a few miles away.  They then set up four snipers looking directly at the four gang members, and on demand, they shot all four members with bullets that knocked them out, allowing the agents to break in and arrest the criminals. This therefore gave the officers an easy task of simply carrying the criminals into the police van when they left their location, where they were taken to the station, where they were arrested, and put on trial, and found guilty, thereby facing life behind bars.

As for the family of the young agent who was assassinated, he was flown back home to his family in his home town, where the entire town turned up for the funeral, for what they described as a ‘heroic, agent, who put his life at risk to save everyone elses.’ The film then ends with a scene of everyone sowing their respects to the agent, and then cutting to a final scene of the criminal gang being put behind bars.