Unit 1 - Call sheets

Call sheets are very important to have as they go out to every single cast and crew member. These are done to just ensure what every single person is doing during the shoot. Everyone is able to know where they are, what they are doing and when. Here is sample of my groups call sheet. 

Unit 22 - Open endings

Narrative endings 

Open ended narrative

What is an open ending narrative?

An open ended narrative is a drama that finishes with the audience guessing what will happen next. They leave the audience in suspense by cutting off the end of story and leaving the audience wondering. They usually don't give clues on what will happen next and keep it a mystery. This would make the audience frustrated or exited. Examples of open ended narratives are Eastenders and empire. 

Inception 

During the end of inception we see Leonardo DiCaprio finally home with his family. He gets to see his kids like he wanted. However, during the end of the movie he takes out his totem. This tells the character in the movie whether or not they are in a dream or reality. The top would collapse if it's reality but if it doesn't then this means they are still in a dream. But, at the end of ‘inception’ we are shown a shot of the top that keeps spinning and when the camera slowly zooms in on the top and just when the top loses its momentum and begins losing speed we are cut to black and that’s it. We the audience are left in the dark questioning whether or not the totem will collapse. It arises many questions for us. Did it fall? Is it still spinning? Is Leonardo DiCaprio in a dream where he thinks he sees his kids? We don't know. This type of ending can only leave the audience with mixed emotions. They can either feel annoyed, laughter, frustration all together. Their reactions will cause them to talk about what they think as they are left to imagine how they think the movie will end. Some wouldn't mind and find pleasure coming up with the ending themselves while others would get annoyed with not knowing. Furthermore, the movie is mostly aimed at 16-30 year old men as it's action packed which many men like in movies. Although the plot makes appeal to both genders. Finally, the target audience would mostly apply to older men as the movie can be quite confusing. Young people may not follow it as well and may become confused. 

How I live now

This is about a girl who suffers from depression, anger and OCD and is sent to live with her cousins in London, as WW3 may be happening. With her aunt being gone due to the war she is left with her three cousins. She is at first unhappy and grumpy about it, but she soon takes a liking to the place while becoming closer to her cousins. This is when she starts to fall in love with one of her cousins.  London then has a nuclear attack and the kids decide to stay at the house but are then later taken. Daisy and her younger cousin are then adopted by a family but later on escape. Her exceptionally violent journey to get she, and the little one back home, is filled with chaos and danger but when she finally does, only one cousin remains the boy with whom she fell in love with. He has been beaten, tortured and scarred from what has happened to him. Unable to connect, or even speak, Daisy submits to being his caretaker. But what will become of them after the war? Will he ever recover? Will their parents ever return? It’s a bittersweet ending. This type of ending leaves the audience either annoyed because they want to know what happens to Daisy and if the person she loves will ever come out of his shell. The film however, would attract young teenager girls (15 - 19) as the characters are young and fall in love. But it would also attract adults with it's grim, disturbing scenes.

What do people think?

" Personally, I’m a big fan of an ending in which the reader is invited to supply the ending – but then, that has resulted in rejections because there isn’t a satisfying enough resolution!"

"I enjoy open ended movies up to a point (loved 2001) but sometimes I feel cheated, as thought the writers couldn't decide on the ending so they just left it hanging"

"If I'm left to contemplate and do serious thought about the implications of the possible endings, then I think the open film ending has been done successfully."

"The ambiguous ending can stretch our minds"

Personally I don't like movies that don't have an ending. It annoys and frustrates me. I like to know what happens in the end of the movie, It makes me think that people who made the movie where too lazy to complete the ending so they left us the audience in the dark. I hate not knowing and like to see what happens to the characters. I don't like guessing and like to have my answers about the characters answered. 

How about you? Can you think of some open-ended films that are your favorites?  Do you like a film with a puzzling ending or do you prefer a clear ending?

Unit 22 - Genre

When it comes to genres they all have conventions they follow, something you would expect to see in the type of genre. The styles and conventions will differ so the specific genre can be presented to the audience. For example, the effects, lighting, costumes and props. 


Science fiction - Doctor Who 

This genre is really imaginative and has things that you wouldn't really see in the real world. For example, space travel, time travel, parallel universe and aliens. For example, Doctor Who is a TV show that has these types of styles and conventions you would expect to see. 

This show is about a time lord called the 'doctor' who travels through time either by himself or with a companion. He stops evil aliens by travelling through time and stopping them from doing certain things which could endanger the universe or earth. This has everything you would expect to see in this type of genre making the target audience more interested in watching the show as it has everything they want entertaining them and making it get more views. This TV show is also filmed with a single camera which means only one camera is used when filming. This makes the show more exciting for the audience as they are able to focus and get it the characters better when the camera is being shot on them. 

Even though the the TV show is set in the same era as us it does have codes and conventions which fits it into a science fiction genre. For example, time travel is used a lot in Doctor who and is a big impact in the science fiction genre. We also see a lot of aliens from different planets in this genre which adds to the conventions we would expect to see. By this show also keeps the audience into the show by adding some comedy to make the viewers laugh at what is happening rather then just have some serious scenes they make the audience laugh and what is being said or what has been done. This also makes the program more realistic to the audience because it makes them feel like they are there with the doctor. The special effects used in this TV show are very realistic also and does not take away the real life theme it has to it. 


Period drama - Downtown abbey 

Downtown abbey is another example of a TV show that uses a single camera. The genre for this TV show is a period drama meaning it is a fictional story which is set in the past. This type of genre is sophisticated and you would expect to see rich people, big houses, servants/butlers and use of posh language. The costumes, props and the way people would speak would all be accurate based on the era when Downtown abbey is set in. For example, people would also expect to see from this genre is long dresses, pocket watches and carriages. This is because the target audience would watch this show and expect these conventions from them so they can get more into the show. 

This TV show is set after Edward VII death and shows how major historical events such as the RMS titanic, the first world war and the Spanish infleuenza pandemic effect the the fictional estate of Downtown abbey. When filming this TV show the lighting used would mostly be era or low dim as it represents the era they are from. This is because there was no electricity and by using little lighting they made the show look more real and feel authentic for the audience, 

Most of the story line contains family, love, drama and torture as do all other period dramas. 



CSI MIAMI - Crime 

Another show that uses a single camera is CSI MIAMI. The genre for this show is crime which you would expect to see police, detectives, blood, murder and CSI crew. This genre involves a crime that is either being planned, has been committed. The characters will involve a villain who commits the crime, a hero who solves the crime which is the detective and the victim who gets murdered or is kidnapped. You would also normally expect to see from this type of genre is a car chase, guns being fired and violence. 


This show meets the conventions people would expect to see on a crime film as it has everything they want. However, it never left the audience like a serial does and makes you wait to the next episode as they catch the killer in that one episode and everything is alright again at the end. We see a lot of action in this type of genre such as car chases, people firing guns and fighting. This makes the audience want to watch more as they are left on cliffhangers when advert comes they want to know what happens next. Who killed that person and why. All this gets us into the show and make us want to watch more.