Video

Preliminary exercise: Continuity task involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. This task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule.

Main task: the titles and opening of a new fiction film, to last a maximum of two minutes.

All video and audio material must be original, produced by the candidate(s), with the exception of music or audio effects from a copyright-free source. Both preliminary and main tasks may be done individually or as a group. Maximum four members to a group.

Preliminary Task

First we were briefed about our task. My group was given a few story boards to follow by, we had to re-create these scenes, this limited our creativity input, however this task was more focused on learning the process rather than creative flare.

We were sent to the studio, there was a set already setup, all we had to do is abide by the story board, shoot the scenes and act them out. We were using my trusty friend the Canon 5D mark III, we started off with a 70-200mm lens, this made it very difficult to get the establishing shot in such a  small space. However we slipped  the camera onto the tripod, bubbled it, got the required height and focused the lens. I was in charge of the camera work, however I hate using a tripod. Why you may ask, because it limits your creativity, because for me, personally, I ran around with the camera like a crazy person until I find an appealing composition, while with a tripod it’s slow, because you have to change, then re-adjust, then change and re-adjust, it gets really tedious really quick. Anyways, in this scene I found it difficult working with the director due to her desire to control but the lack of communication, so I abided by the boring shots of the story board.

Once the director and I walked through, with the actors, what we wanted to see. We began by establishing the shot, in film an establishing shot is used because it explains to the audience where the characters are, if an establishing shot is not used this can confuse the audience. However since I was using this 70-200mm lens I had no choice to back up around 10 meters away from the set to fit it in. Once I got that shot done all the other shots came quite easy, however it wouldn't of been possible if it wasn’t for the experienced actors we had with us, their timing was precious so it worked to benefit the continuity of the scene. Every shot we did, we would run it from the top, this means we could use multiple shots throughout the edit. In this shoot we were constantly aware of the 180 degree rule and we made sure to not to break the rule, except for one shot which was suggested by one of the actors, however after discussions we doubt we are going to use it in the final edit.

The task however may of seemed mundane, but it was very important for the understanding of not just continuity but following a story board, and what personally stood out to me is that to be able to direct you must be clear with your vision and to be able to express it, because no matter how it is written it means nothing compared to how it is said. 


Once we got into the editing bay, it was my time to shine! I teamed up with Vogue to edit the clips, as I thought she would want to do the least work. Anyways first we began by organising the best clips and pulling them into the Premiere Pro's timeline. We began cutting away, closely following the story boards. Then I was pushed to the side and Vogue took control. I should of stood my ground and taken control, but I was out, quickly our cut turned to crap.

Here is the final cut our group created

180 Degree Rule

This is a short video I made, demonstrating  and explaining the 180 degree rule that we learnt about in our lessons. Due to the rule being visual, I didn't no any better way then making a video displaying how this rule can be used and how it can be broken.
The 180 degree rule, is a necessity for delivering consistent continuity and for eliminating the audience from getting confused or disorientated.
The basic principle of the rule is to establish and maintain the screen direction of your actors or action within a scene.
Once you set your line of action, according to the rule, once you place your camera on one of the sides of the line, you must keep all your shots within that 180 degree arc of the line. 
I hope you enjoy my short video of this in the youtube video above.

Spider-man 2 (Kyle Cooper)

After working on the 2002 Spider-Man, Kyle Cooper came back to create the Spider-Man 2 title opening sequence. Spider-Man 2 has a really unique way of telling the previous story of Spider-Man just in the title-sequence, and this wouldn't of been if not for the unique works of Kyle Cooper.

When Kyle Cooper went to go work Spider-Man, he as well created Marvels logo sting, which is a really expressive and simple way of summing up Marvel. It fades to black. Boom! And the title sequence begins. The editing style within this piece is very unique, first we are introduced slowly into the title of "spider-man" boldly in front of the web, then this is when things get interesting. Instead of ending there, the webs start moving across each other, displaying images/artwork of the last film. This is done in all sorts of shape, creating a really dynamic piece.

In all of Kyle Coopers work he is really expressive with the camera movement and movement in general throughout any title sequence. In the beginning of this title sequence  the camera is following the string of the web. Then the camera feels as if it is flying through 3D space through the webs and we get shown a story from the previous film, however the dynamics of the camera swinging through the webs really pulls the view into the scene.

The sound and the mise on scene in this title sequence is epic! The sound used here is unlike what Kyle Cooper is used to, but it shows his ability to adapt his style. While his music used is usually very dark and unnerving, this music is epic cinematic, which is perfect for the action/adventure theme. The mise en scene like the music is very expressive with the popping red colors and the flashes of artwork, catching the audience up from the previous film. The artwork throughout the scene really highlights the main scenes and characters, bring together a beautiful opening title sequence.

American Horror Story (Kyle Cooper)

American Horror Story is an American television anthology series, with each season conceived as a self-contained miniseries, following a disparate set of characters and settings, and a storyline with its own "beginning, middle, and end." The unnerving bohemian storytelling is perfect for the unhinged style of Kyle Cooper.

The title sequence was composed by Kyle Cooper and his group of creative specialists, to bring together this artistic masterpiece. With a very similar style to Se7en's title sequence Kyle Cooper captures mysterious lab of sorts with disturbing substances and jars, to instigate the feeling of uneasiness.

How Cooper pulls these feeling from his audience is with his unique style. In the opening titles of American Horror Story he uses his choppy editing style, which keeps the view on the edge of their seat, due to the spontaneity of the pace of the cuts. The audience is made to hold there view for too long, till there is montage of many image images spliced together, flashing into the audience's eyes, not exactly knowing what they have seen. This can make the audience more and more intrigued due to our brains not liking us knowing what we just saw. While to a third part the title sequence clips seem very random, however it's the complete opposite as Ryan Murphy said about the opening credits "The title sequence is almost like a mystery. By the time you see the ninth episode of this season, every image in that title sequence will be explained." This mystery will keep audience's clinging on to each episode wanting to know more and never happy with what they are told.

The sound within the opening title sequence is key to all of Coopers work. The song in the background was created by Cesar Davila-Irizarry, who is a friend of "Prologue" editor Gabriel Diaz, and musician Charlie Clouser, formerly of Nine Inch Nails and is called "American Horror Story". The song heightens the unnerving feeling and sense to the opening sequence, and they especially emphasis this with the interesting use of Foley that disorientates the viewer.

The camera use and mise en scene within the sequence is used in particular ways that evoke many emotions from the audience. The shadows of someone but never seeing someone, the flicking through different clips and the film burns create a shady unnerving feeling within the audience. The mise on scene is mostly centered around the taboo of babies, making theme look evil, burning the pictures and suggesting their death, demonstrates what kind of television show American Horror Story aims to be. The film burn effect used on the clips, is a process used back in the days of when projector work was an art, and if you didn't look after the projector the light within the projector could burn away the film, this effect is used throughout the opening title sequence, however the audience never gets bored of it. This emphasis the unnerving and intriguing scenes. All these techniques used creates another Cooper masterpiece.

Kyle Cooper

Kyle Cooper (Born July 1962) is an American designer of motion picture title sequences.

Originally studying and earning a BFA from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst (in interior architecture design) and a MFA in graphic design from the Yale School of Art. With a background of arts he dived into the advertising world, as a creative director. And soon after that was picked up by David Fincher to create the title scene of the psychological thriller "Se7en" a seminal work which received critical acclaim.

almost single-handedly revitalising the main-title sequence as an art form

David Finchers film catapulted Kyle Cooper into the world of title sequences and he is now souly responsible for 150 film title sequences.

He partnered up and co-founded Imaginary Forces, while quickly becoming 'one of the most successful creative agencies in Hollywood' he didn't feel creatively fulfilled and left. Then in 2003 he founded Prologue, which with a small team of creatives which concentrates on creating title sequences.

Here is his demo reel from 2007 alone...

Se7en - Opening Titles

Throughout the opening sequence the pace at which it is edited is choppy and fast pace, it uses this jagged style through of cutting to one shot then a cut to another angle and back in snappy sort of feel. The whole title sequence is a montage of clips and images that build tension and interest. The soundtrack begins quite slow an so does the amount of cuts but when the soundtrack increases so does the amount of cuts increasing tension and creating what feels like a build up. The transition used through out this short title sequence is mostly cuts, but with the artistic use of fades and crossovers. They have used a film effect on top of the clips, as well the use of stock footage to instigate a manic feel building more tension. The clips will cut to black to display the titles, with the titles having a sketchy ADHD feel, as they zoom off in all directions.

The camera manipulates our visuals, to create tension and intrigue. The whole scene mostly uses either close up, or an extreme closeup. This means the audience can't see the whole picture and gives us the full emotion of what the camera is looking at, this builds interest and tension due to to its ambiguous nature. The first shot is of a book however the hand movements in the background out of focus this use of selective focus makes the audience wonder what is going on, building not only interest but anticipation due to the audience wondering what is going to happen next, and this technique is used throughout the whole sequence.

In this title sequence the use of sound is very unique. The non-diagetic sound has a very urban feel, while slow they used foley sound effects, for example like the screeching and other machine elements, this creates a disorientating feel and instigates the unnerving feeling as tension builds. Around the one minute and 12 seconds the impact of the sound increases as the guitar hits in, while the hirling and razor sound effects continue throughout making a very effective use of sound effects.

Finally and most important the mise en scene. This is what makes this sequence so chilling. While the scene begins and there is no establishing shot so most of the mise on scene is bases on vague assumption. Due to the ambigous nature we begin believing that the set looks like it could be a workshop, office or a detectives office. However what extinguishes this thought is the clip of the razor blade cutting off the finger tips displaying that it is a criminal, due to this being the method of removing your finger prints, and only skilled or committed criminals would make this painful sacrifice. There is cutting of picture and film strips, which suggesting whoever is in control of the hands are plotting something and from the finger tip clip we can incinerate anything good. It appears that the person is doing some sort of research due to all the documents scattered around. The camera focuses on the character crossing out things like 'intercourse' and 'transsexual' from a book, then the vigorous crossing out of a picture of a face. Creating a tension filled intriguing title sequence.