Ninja kid opening sequence

Toby Moffat - Individual blog

In our childrens film "The Ninja Kid", our main actor is James Robertson. I (Toby Moffat) come in twice briefly, one at the beginning and also once around the middle. It was filmed by Laura Brett. We didn't need many props, only fake nunchucks that were made out of newspaper, some all in one pyjamas for when our character wakes up, and the alarm clock that wakes him up.

The filming took place all around Long Road sixth form college, and was inside for the first half of the opening sequence and was outside for the second half. There is audio over the top of the digetic sound as our soundtrack, and the sequence is also narrated. The volume level of the soundtrack is quietened when the narration is on, and then increased again when there is no narration. We didn't need permission to stay in one room and film, and we also didn't need permission to film in reception where the stairs in reception acted as the stairs coming down from ninja kids bedroom. Outside acted as the training space where he can practice his moves.

Individual Blog- James Robertson

Our Childrens Film Oppening sequence entitled Ninja Kid will consist of one main charechter The ninja kid of which being me James Robertson of as well  as w destingtive voiceover. Another charechter in the oppening sequece being that of a semi- extra playing the role of the Ninja Kid's older brother Bobby of whom views him as a loser, and believes he is never going to successfully follow his dream is Toby Moffat. The props of which needed being, An alarm clock, to create the bedroomy feel, pyjamas to add to the realism and proffessionalism as well as the nunchucks and balaclava for the same reason. The making of the nunchucks as well as bringing in the balaclava and alarm clock all fell responsibility of me with Laura left to bring in the pyjamas.
The location for our filming consisted of 3 simple places all of which easily avaliable, firstly a classroom to which would feature as Ninja Kids bedroom, The colleges reception to portray as the stairs leading down from the boarding schools dorm and finally and possibly easiest an open space in which would allow Ninja kid to practice his martial art, these 3 locations all needing no permission.

Our Inspiration

We recieved our inspiration for our Childrens Film Ninja Kid from various different movies yet we found two inperticular to give us the most. firstly being that of Karate Kid, Starring Jaden Smith as well as martial arts ledgend Jackie Chan and the plot leads Dre ( Jaden Smith) to emigrate to China with his mum in which he emigrates to China where he is taught by the best. The elimate of inspiration of which we used from this film comes from that of the kid being taught by the best, which although is not actually viewble in the oppening sequence there is a mentioning portrayed through the voiceover.

As well as Karate kid of that of  we also sought inspiration from the much loved yet non- Childrens Film of Kick Ass despite it following the BBFC certification of a 15 in the film which sees Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson), an ordinary teenager, wonders why nobody has ever decided to become a superhero like the ones in the comic books, so he decides to become a real-life superhero, despite having no superpowers, and the film follows him as he follows his dream to becomea real life superhero and our inspiration comes from not only the 'following his dream' but also from his costume as allready discussed in a previous blog.

Mise-en-scene resurch

Costume: T the start of our opening 'Ninja Kid' it start of with him waking up, so as a stereotypical kid he will be wearing a one piece pyjamas set which will give the audience an idea of his age and judging by the patterns what kind of boy he is like. After woulds  he will be in his Karate outfit which will involve bright colours as a full suit to stand out and make it clear to the audience of who they are.









Location: The main set of the location would be within the main characters bedroom as a stereotypical boys bedroom like the one bellow except the exception of poster of his hero (ninja warriors) on his wall.







Props: The two main props we will need a balaclava and nun-chucks showing his enthusiamsm in Karate and wanting to be a ninja.

The Ninja Kid - BBFC classification

The BBFC classification we are aiming our film 'The Ninja Kid' at is PG (parental guidance). This means that the film should be suitable for the general viewing of all children, although some scenes may be inappropriate and unsuitable for children that are under the age of 8. The only content portrayed in our film that could possibly be thought of as unsuitable is the nature of it, which consists of a young kid inspired by his hero, trying to follow his dream in becoming a professional martial artist.

The opening sequence of our film that we are creating will be suitable for all to view. This is because it contains no strong or bad language, no nudity and only mild violence because in his mind he is challenging people to martial arts fights, and this is shown by him practicing his fighting skills and his nunchucks skills into mid air in his bedroom. The whole film is suitable for all children and the only part that may be deemed unsuitable is the low level theme of violence throughout the film when he fights. We haven't given this the U classification because the theme of mild violence throughout may be unsuitable for young children under the age of 4 years old, so we believe the classification that best fits our film is PG. Our opening sequence consists main of him jumping around his room with homemade nunchucks showing off his moves with them, and then prancing up and down punching and kicking. It is clear that they aren't actually nunchucks, and this is because they are made out of newspaper. This is obvious in our opening sequence. The reason we have made the fake nunchucks is because we want to keep the the innocence and low level of violence in the film whilst at the same time maintaining the realism.

This film will not exceed criteria of the PG classification because it doesn't contain any content that could be thought of as unsuitable by anybody looking to watch a film in the PG classification. Because of all the reasons mentioned above, we believe that the opening sequence of our film best fits in with the PG criteria, and that is why we have classified it as that.

Risk Assessment

Story board NINJA KID

Shot list project NINJA KID

Childrens film opening sequence MINd MAP

Openinig sequence of UP

The film up in short centers around the plot line being that of an elderly widower named Carl Fredricksen and an earnest young explorer named Russell who fly to South America in a house suspended by helium balloons.

This film unlike any other, will of course follow the typical conventions as of from the Children's film genre. One of these is that of the production is clearly illustrated to us within the opening sequence. In this case, it is Walt Disney and Pixar. As well as the fact that we get a rather useful insight into the main characters, i.e. Carl Fredricksen is shown as a socially inept young man with a dream of exploring the World, following his idol. This is shared by his later wife, Ellie, another character who greatly influences the narative. Through this it coincides with another convention, this time through the characters we get an insight into the story as a whole (Carl's dream to be an explorer).

Furthermore, an opening tune is also present, once again fitting with the typical sub-genre of adventure, as well as the Childrens film on a whole. This being that of a JAZZy little tune.

A final way in which the opening sequence of UP fits with the typical conventions of a Children's film genre is that the title, UP, is clearly shown to us. Using vivid, bright and animated colours, once again backs up the typical Children's film and animation sub-genre.

However, there are also aspects which does not coincide with the typical conventions. One way in which this is shown is through the fact that no opening credits are present. As well as, location on a whole, is fairly blurred, i.e. as we know Carl is a explorer but the film does not specifically state where he explores, until later on the film.

Conventions of the science fiction genre

Science fiction genre is usually set in the future. The most common conventions that you see in this genre are futuristic vehicles and weapons, for example in Star Wars, there are things such as the death star, and weapons like lightsabers. Most science fiction films have two sides, almost like the good guys and the bad guys. A good example of this is in Star Wars again. These are the jedis and the siths, and the jedis are the good guys and the siths are the bad guys.

At the end of most science fiction genres, the leaders of the each side usually battle it out to create the final scene within the film. This happens at the end of star wars revenge of the sith when darth maul and obi wan konobi have a battle. In most cases of science fiction, the final result is usually the good side overpowering the bad side to finish the film.

Conventions of Action/Adventure genre

Advemture is usually an exciting genre that introduces new and impossible experience's. Action is usually paired up with the genre of adventure and adventure makes the film more exciting. The action/adventure film we have analysed is Finding Nemo. Finding nemo is an action/adventure. We have given it this genre title because the film as about a clownfish getting lost and captured, and the dad goes on an adventure to try and find his son. The action comes from various fights with sharks and other types of fish, and the fast paced ending to the film where he succeeds in finding his son. The main part of the story comes from the dad on an adventure trying to track down Nemo, by crossing the whole ocean and dangerous activities, and dangerous encounters with with other sea creatures.

Opening sequence analysis of Toy Story

Within the opening of the film Toy Story, many different conventions are portrayed. One of them being typical background music throughout the opening sequence. This follows the code of the specific genre being that of jazzy and upbeat. The sound also increases when woody comes onto the screen, and it becomes louder and bolder because woody is a main character, and they aim to show the audience this straight away. There are also sounds that have been put in that are digetic, which adds to the realism of the film. There is also a quiet level of music in the background when the begininng credits are shown.

Also shown in the opening scene is a mention of the production company, as well as brief credits including the name of the producers etc. Shown on top of the opening to the film are also typical of childrens film shown through the conventions is that of an insight to the main characters such ass that of woody buzz lightyear andy and others. Another obvious one that is shown is the big title of the film being shown on the screen. Another is the location which is made clear straight away when it is shown at the beginning of the film. It is shown straight away when it shows andy in his house playing with his toys. This sets the main location for the rest of the story. This also shows the viewer where the majority of the film continues and gives them an insight as to what to expect. The sub genre of this film (within childrens film) is action/comedy because it has a fast pace opening and with the jazzy music boasts a comedy element.

Preliminary Task

We really enjoyed this task. Nevertheless, we wish that we had a longer time to expand on the sound which we did as we believe we had the potential to make it better through various other stages of sound including various transitions and extra sound effects. We hope you enjoy watching.

Evaluation:
In our preliminary task we learnt a lot. We learnt properly how to use the camera, and how to use different types of camera shots to make our task better. We also learn how to use different pieces of equipment, such as using trolley's for a steady movement for creating the shot type pan. Also, having use of props to make shots more effective added to the mise en scene and overall effectiveness of our task.

Overall we enjoyed this task and learnt a lot. There are a lot of things we have done well in our task, but there are also things that we can aim to improve with our full opening sequence. One thing I believe we have done well is using a different variety of camera shots. For example, using the pan shot type by using a trolley to steady the camera and also using an over the shoulder shot to show that James is in power when he has Toby defenceless on the floor. The continuity is also done well, as the timing of the camera jumps cuts were perfected and the timing was done well. One thing that we can improve on is our audio track, as it was slightly rushed, and is mainly the same throughout the whole task, other than the slight change in tune once Toby has gone through the door. We are also now more experienced in the camera work and editing fields, and our opening sequence should reflect this.

preliminary story board 1

How are the conventions constructed differentley in your two chosen film opening sequences?

Monsters Inc has an introduction of jazzy music. This fits in tune with the opening credits of which fit to the genre of "childrens film" as it spruces up the typically boring title credits. It also sets the scene of being in the kids bedroom. This was conveyed in an establishing shot. From the opening scene, you can also establish that the sub genre is that of comedy. Also, the main characters and story and introduced. This is pretty much the same as that of Agent Cody Banks in which you can see once again, an establishment of the family being that of the main characters as well as the location.