Craig Smeaton - Individual Blog

     For our opening sequence we decided to only have one character that would be the focal point of setting the tone of the narrative. This was done by incorporating a black cloak to cover the entire body of the actor to create a blank canvas, however as the cloak was black it helped add to the eerie, mysterious feel that we desired. This feel was achieved by our understanding of the conventions that are put upon the colour black in children's films, these being evil (the 'baddy') or just a mysterious character that hides in the shadows that saves the day. using the black cloak helped us save on bringing in too many props that may distract us from the actual filming process, but at the same time it gave the audience to the opening sequence different roads to go down as to what the narrative may be, which I feel makes it a successful opening sequence. The other prop that we used for our opening sequence was a Rubix Cube, we decided to use this toy that is widely bought for young children, as it would make the film easily relatable to children. The main reason for using the Rubix Cube was so that we could use the toys primary function as a form of magical spell that would make it very intriguing, also that it's very colourful which is an attraction for most young children. As a group we all helped each other in bringing in the Rubix Cube and the black cloak as not everyone had the items.
     As a group we decided that the most suitable place to film our opening sequence was in the woods that are situated on the college ground. We thought this was more suitable because it would mix well within the genre of the film, being Adventure/Fantasy, woodland is a trait that is conventional within the genre.