Preparing The Shoot

So now we appear to have everything prepared for the actual film, it's time to start shooting *draws guns*, okay maybe not that shooting... Filming shooting...

Booking Equipment:

Before we can actually film anything we have to book all the correct equipment out on the days we are filming and if on the weekend book it out for the entirety of the weekend. Jack was set to do this and be in charge of the equipment however we will all be looking after it out on set so us other three members of the group are listed as participants of the booking.

Scripts and Storyboards:

For this we will print off 5 copies of the script, one to give each actor and two for us to look at on the day. The actors will be receiving the scripts A.S.A.P to ensure they understand what they are doing and they will also be given a link to the Animatic to look over what we are looking for. As for the storyboard, we will use the master copy of the storyboard when we're filming save having to print off so many sheets of the (extremely detailed) storyboard we're all about that environmental life. We will only take the pages we need as we're not to loose pages we have yet to do.

Transport and Locations

For most of us, getting to and from the locations is easy, with each of us having at least one location that is only a short walking distance away from where we live. If that is not that case, Jack has accessibility to his own car and can drive us if need be, and if thats not available then we have our parents and their cars.

Once everyone arrives at the locations at the designated times, we will prepare the location for what we want to shoot that being clear anything out the way, move things into the shot, collect props and what not. Then we get onto the filming as soon as we can, we will make sure that everything is suited and looks good preparing the camera to be in focus and the quality is good enough for us to film and get good shots.

Camera Work

Non of the shots we want to perform are especially tasking or hard to perform, other than that of the crane shot that will be the opening of our film. We have decided that as a group we will try and get the chance to practice this before the day of filming to make sure that we know how to correctly perform it and make sure the shot looks good. Here's an example of what we want to achieve:

The Crew

Before we even get on set we need to establish our roles and responsibilities within the group so theres no confusion with who is doing what and where they're meant to be. So we decided on these roles for the group.

Director - Charlotte Billingham
Camera Work - Jack Parkes

Sound and Foley - Tom Bentley

Framing, Costume and Props - Lucy Smith

Having these roles in the production, makes sure that no one feels left out in doing anything due to the amount of work that has to be put in to achieve what we want to do.

Shooting Schedule

So now we've got everything ready, it's time to look at when we can film and what we can film, when! We first began looking at when we are free to film and making an availability chart of when the whole crew are free to film.



Charlotte, Tom and I have the same timetable so our availability is the same, even of a weekend. However, Jack has a weekend job making him unavailable on the average weekend but he has tried to get the weekend off. Based on this, we made up a shooting schedule:



This schedule includes all the information we need, Who is needed,What we are filming, Where were filming,  When were filming and the equipment we need. Our first filming day is 5th December lets see what we can do!

Actors Release Forms

To star in our films, the actors have to sign a form (and there lives away), also if under 18 and the start of filming, there parents. This enables us to use there image in the film.

The T's and C's

The Rights to The Actors Lives

Production Review

As a group and a production team, when looking at our events and where we actually are, we seem to be doing really well and everything is on time. Well at least according to the shooting schedule anyway, lets see what actually happens from now on!

We're about here at the moment




So in all honesty if we carry on as we are I'm sure our shooting will go great and editing if we manage our time correctly and all that jazz. We have everything we need ready for shooting from actors, costumes and props to scripts and stroryboards to see what we're actually filming! So now here we go onto finally getting down and filming!

Animatic

Here's the animatic we've created for our film to see how we think the film would feel and look, take a look here:

Illusion of Existence Storyboard

So before we can film we need to know what we're actually going to be filming funnily enough, so we have to make a storyboard of all the shots we want to film and make up our film. We may have accidentally gone into a little too much detail...

The Illusion Of Existence Script

Props Research

Here's the formal props list for all the props that will be used in our film. We will take this when looking for props as a checklist and also on set to make sure we have everything that we need to make our film:

To speak about a few of these props that we chose to have a certain look about them.

The Chipped/Stained Mug:
We wanted to use a older looking mug in the film to show her carelessness and that she doesn't really care or feel the need to buy anything new if she has no one to impress so she carries on using the same mug.

The Tatty Handbag:
This is again used for the same reason as the mug. She's had it a long time and doesn't feel the need to replace it for any reason.

Stack Of Folders:
The folders will be messy and look unorganized as she carries them, we wanted to show that again she doesn't really care and she does what she can to get by in the world.

Apple
When we came up with the idea that Mallory will be eating an apple and her dropping it we were looking at the apple from Disney's Snow White. She eats the apple and then dies, in our case the apple represents the death of Peter.

Risk Assessment

Here is the risk assessment for each of the locations we will be filming at. Each risk is taken into account and given a rating from Low-High and any plan of action for what we have to do to limit the risks.

Location Risk Assessment A2

Location Research

These are the photos of the locations we will be using to film our scenes in our short film. We all think that these locations are ideal and suitable to film at. Also it is easy for us all to get to, as we have accessible transport in the group.

The House:

The opening of the film we will have an establishing shot of Mallory's house where she lives alone. For this we will be using Charlotte's family house. The house is rather new and large, having it this way we thought it would extenuate the fact she lives and alone and is lonely.

Bedroom Scenes:

For several scenes in the film, we will need to film in and around a house. The opening of the film is set in what should be the female characters bedroom as she gets ready for the day. In this location there will be a montage style scene of Mallory waking up and getting herself ready for the days events ahead. This scene will also be repeated again towards the end of the film as we witness her transformation into her more stylish and confident phase.

We will be re-arragnging this bedroom and adding more of a modern bed cover and pillows to make the room look and suit the young character of Mallory.








Road Scenes:

As you can see in these photos there is a large main road with a path on the side. Next to it is a big field. The scene we will be filming here is when the female character bumps into the male character and when she drops her bags. The two characters will be engaging in conversation, and when they say goodbye to each other and they both go in the opposite directions, the female character turns around and sees that he has completely gone.



The reason we have decided to film in this location is because there is lots of space, and it is virtually clear to the audience that there is no place that this male character can hide within the amount of time between when they both go in the opposite direction and from when she turns around. So this leaves the audience wondering how this character disappeared in such a short amount of time, with no side roads or bushes to quickly hide into.

This location will be easy for us all as a group to get to as we have accessible transport from one of member's in the group.The only thing we will all have to be careful with is that we will need to be aware of cars driving on the road, so if any of us cross the road we will need to take extra care especially as at times we will be carrying expensive filming equipment.

Park Scene:

 In these photos shows a park with massive open fields. This is the scene where the female character is sitting on a bench and she hears the sound of a male voice which is the voice of the male character who she bumped into in road location. This is an ideal location once again because like with the second location there is lots of open space, but with this location there is even more open space.



As you can see more clearly in this photo there is lots of open space.
So in this scene the similar event will happen again with them both talking then walking in the opposite direction, only for her to turn around seconds later to see that he has completely vanished. It will become clear to the audience that there is literally no place for this male person to hide or go in the amount of time between when they go in the opposite directions and when the female character turns around. This location will be fairly easy to get due to the accessible transport we have in our group.






Train Station Scene:

These photos show the train station where we will be filming. The scene that we will film which happens at this location will see the male character and the female character once again engage in conversation, after she hears the same male voice again asking about the train times when she is looking at the train timetable.
As they engage in conversation, the female wonders off to the train timetable asking the male character what train he was getting and where he was going. But when he doesn't reply she turns around and sees that he has vanished.


For the third time the audience is left wondering where this male character went and how he could disappear in the amount of time between when she walked to the train timetable and turning around. In these photos you can clearly see that there is nowhere for him to hide.

We chose this station over a large station like Birmingham New Street, not only to prevent any high risks to cast/crew while filming but to show the area that Mallory lives in being a quiet village that not many people need access to making her chances of meeting new people being unlikely due to her situation.

Costume Research

When looking at each characters costume choices, we began to look at how we would want them seen on screen and how their costumes could be seen by an audience member. We first began to look towards the Male lead character who we wanted a costume that wouldn't give away too much of his character.

Having the character dress in all black with no dignifying clothing item or accessory, gives the audience a sense of mystery about him and want to know more about this character, giving them a shock when they find out his back story of his past and his death.

Our female character in our film will have three costumes as we see her throughout the film. This will be in the form of a pair of Pajamas, an Everyday Outfit, and then an outfit when she decides that she'd like to reinvent herself. We liked the idea of her wearing darker reds with black/grey accessories, so she slides under the radar of anyone's attention.

When she has her personal transformation into her higher equilibrium we decided to move away from the autumnal colours we see her wearing throughout the film and go for a brighter and happier colour with a Blue dress. This is also showing the idea of a new life and moving on from darker times. Her hair will also change from being a lazy pony tail into her hair being down and made up and her glasses removed.

For our final character, we have our supporting male, who comes into the film at the end that creates the females higher equilibrium. We chose to dress him as different as we could from our male lead character to show the contrast in the personalities and future relationship of the two.

He is dressed alot smarter than the Male Lead, as though he was going to work also. We also chose a light blue shirt to match with our female character to make show a link between the two characters.

We've also had to make a costume plot for when we are on set and getting the characters costumes ready:

Costume Plot by Lucy Smith

Film Treatment

Before we could move onto our planning and research, we have to write a film treatment. The treatment written similar to that of a story, lets you imagine how the film will look and the story and actions that go on with it and give descriptions of the camera moments and shot types.

You can read it here:

Now that we have this treatment we can now look at things like:

• Costumes
• Props
• Locations (With the risk assessment!)

ONTO THE PLANNING!

Proposed Workflow

Now that we're set in groups for our Final Product this year, and our film has been pitched and commissioned we created a workflow to follow to create our film. This workflow is filled with the tasks we've got to do and the order we will follow them in:

Sometimes we may need to twiddle things around abit and hopefully we can leave the 'Go home and cry' situation out of it! Now to get started! We created a timetable style sheet to follow with individual tasks written to do and key dates:

HERE WE GO!

Target Audience Profile

This is Kate Marshall. she is 20 years old and is a student at Staffordshire University studying English literature. She studies this subject as she has a big interest in the arts including drama specifically plays. 

She currently shares an apartment with 3 other students from her university which isn't far from Stafford town centre. This is of interest to Kate as her and her flatmates like to go out at night. This can be to the cinema or a nigh out at the local bars and clubs. 
Kate's past times include going out to the cinema to watch the latest films. Her favourite film genres include romance and drama themed films. Kate does find socialising with her friends important and so makes use of many social networking sites available for this generation. 
As a student, Kate is within the E band of classification having a part time job working at a retail store. She shows an interest in fashion and earning around £3000 per annum working about 12 hours a week. This enables her to work around her uni schedule and have enough time for a social life. 
When travelling to and from work, she drives a Kia Picanto which she bought using her student loan and a little added payment from her parent who she regularly visits back home.
Over time, some of Kate's favourite films include Time Traveler's Wife and The Notebook, both of the drama and romance genre which she takes much interest in.
Aside from from films, within her spare time , Kate has a passion for country music specifically artists such as Johnny Cash and more recently some of the work by Taylor Swift. She has been to a few of her concerts but as a student she can't afford to go to all of them as she has to save up for her essentials for University. 
Kate does enjoy watching movies on site such as Netflix and love film but does like to go to the cinema especially on Wednesdays to watch a film with her flatmates.

Target Audience and BBFC Rating

To set a target audience for our film we need to look at the classification for our film and what the rating would be if it was released by the BBFC film board.

BBFC Classification

PG Entitlement:

Mild bad language can be used such as B**** and S***, however they must be used in a non aggressive violent manner to prevent them from being rated a 12. Repeating these words is also not allowed.

Smoking and drinking cannot be promoted and encouraged.

Sexual references can be made but not shown in full 

No detailed violence is allowed. Blood is permitted by the cause of the injuries are not allowed to be showing in great detail.

Drugs can be spoken of and shown but they cannot be focused upon unless it is an anti-drug film or has an educational message that children over 8 will understand.

Our film would fit into the PG rating, at first we thought about giving it a rating of U, however, with the idea that our Male character would be murdered and 'dead' effected it due to the violent nature of this. 

We also believed that the classification would be PG because of the wider range of target audience we can achieve. If it was classed as a U people might think of the film as childlike and wouldn't appeal to a wider audience as we would like the film to do.

A similar film to ours would be the 2009 film, The Time Travellers Wife:

It has a 12A rating as the storyline includes some swearing and obvious sexual references. This rating is the one a little bit more adult than ours however the film does follow the same conventions as ours, just with some more graphic content making the rating higher. According to the website www.cinemareview.com opinions on this film are high through all different ages and genders which is what we wish our film to be.

Final Film Pitch

For our final film idea we chose to use the basis of Charlotte's original idea of 'The Illusion of Existence' and began to look at the different elements of a film and how it would portray the story how we wanted to show it.

We then had to put it into a pitch and see if we could have it commissioned by Mr Hood for his permisson for the group to carry on with creating the product. Here's our pitch:

After the pitch our film got commissioned, we also have been given an idea of how to go into a further narrative in our story line where we see more of a character development of our Female lead showing the audience a much more multi-faceted view of her by using the Todorov theory of the character achieving a greater equilibrium at the end of the story, making them happier than what they were at the start of the story.

But now that's out of the way, we now get to move onto creating our product and developing our idea into a physical piece of film!

Team Members Original Pitches & Evaluation

Tom Bentley - Separation

• We all liked Tom's basic idea for the film, with the story being about to long lost siblings. However the age of the two characters being 20+ is a little difficult to do/get away with by having younger actors. The actual story line of the film is simple and easy to follow however would be a little too hard to film and get certain people or props.

Charlotte Billingham- The Illusion of Existence

• The film appeals to a wider audience range than the other three, by it being a mystery/romance type of film. It follows more of a story line of a short film with the twist at the end. However there may be some location issues with our safety and the equipment's safety. But that's nothing a risk assessment can't fix.

Jack Parkes - Replay

• Jack's film is a good initial idea with the big twist at the end. However all the details are a little cliche and there is the technically difficulty with creating a 'car crash' style scene with both the logistics and filming of the scene. The ending of the 'remote getting broken' is a little too cliche and if we chose this we would look at changing the the ending to step away from the same old ideas.

Overall, everyones film ideas and presentations were good with a lot of varied ideas. For the next step, we have to work out our final film idea and start our preparations to film it. We will look again at each of our film pitches and work our film out.

Production Team Logo

We have come up with an example for our production team ident/logo, this incorporates the 'Libra' star sign symbol along with our company name and the sound of a court mallet on a desk. The whole group like the idea but we have time to improve our logo but at the moment we think we like this one.

Production Team

So we have the final production team, time to welcome 'Justice Productions'

Jack Parkes, Tom Bentley, Lucy Smith and Charlotte Billingham

So this is our official production team for the product we're making this year, we've named ourselves 'Justice Productions' as we feel that we're all equal in ability and mindset. We're well balanced and are looking forward to creating this years products. However we do have our own personal strengths and weaknesses and told them to the group:

Hopefully as we go through this process as a group, helping each other and creating our product, the things we've pin pointed should develop and our weaknesses become obsolete and that should hopefully set our product apart from others!

Here's to the next year!

Practice Run With The DSLR Cameras and New Software

For our final product this year we will be using the new DSLR cameras from the school, which improves the film quality and if used correctly gives a cinematic look to the film. To practice using the cameras and get a hands on experience with the way they work, we got commissioned to do a short documentary style video about 'litter'.

DSLR Training

Because these new cameras are completely different to what we used the past year, we had to get to grips and learn how to set them up to get a much more cinematic look than our films last year. One video that really helped us with understanding the way the new cameras work (even if the screen is in another language)

And also this handy diagram to help get the perfect picture with the main three aspects of getting the right image: Apature (Depth of Field), Shutter Speed and ISO (The sensitivity to light)

Sometimes even if you feel that everything is correct and no adjusting is needed, you sometimes have to have different lenses that effect the colouring of the picture with the amount of light that its let into the lens. 

The Documentary
We began looking towards something for inspiration and at first we thought about a mockumentry style film based off the YouTube video 'A Majestic Plastic Bag' where we would follow a similar idea and film style. Check that out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLgh9h2ePYw

But that idea got shot out of the sky, by being told that we had to do something serious when we were given some criteria to follow and then go out and film our version of what we wanted in a group. Here was the criteria:

As a group, Tom, Charlotte, Jack and I went out to Chasewater and filmed our documentary. Here have a look:

At first the new editing software looked a little daunting, last year we used Final Cut Express, which has now been upgraded to Final Cut Pro X that comes with a completely new interface.

Final Cut's new look

As a class we first went through all the new features of Final Cut and what it can do differently from the previous version that we used. One thing that I found especially different (however, very useful) was the timeline with connected clips and the ability to expand the clips and use the roll and trim tools a lot more efficiently.

After editing we then exhibited it to our classmates and teacher and received feedback about the content of the documentary and the quality. This was recorded as the feedback was given, to help us improve on our camera work and editing skills with all the new hardware and software. Here was the feed back that we received:

Overall I think we we're pretty proud of our project and we just need to improve on a few things, hopefully the final product should go well. We just need to work on the focusing of the camera more, maybe using an external monitor might help with the fine tuning of the footage and with the editing everything comes with practice so hopefully all should go swimmingly for our final product!

Film Pitch Idea

So over the summer we we're put to the task of making up film ideas and then pitching them when we came back for our first lesson. I think my presentation went pretty well and explained my film idea as well as I could without showing the actual film or revealing too much.

Here's my pitch:

No one had any questions about the plot line directly, which shows that everyone understood the plot. Someone raised a question regarding the cinematography of the possible film, how I could get it to look as indie/artsy as I can and I explained it would be through hand held camera work with filters and light tricks to make it into my desired looks and feel.

Overall I think my pitch went well and achieved what I intended it to

GW-HS Short Film Festival

In lesson we had a 'Short Film Festival' by submitting one of our films:


Daniel Vidmar: Inside


The Film: 8/10
Pitch: 3/10


Tilly Whitehouse: One Man's Loss

The Film: 9/10
Pitch: 4/10


Charlotte Billingham: Waste

The Film: 9/10
Pitch: 7/10


Deanna Hopps: Post It

The Film: 8/10
Pitch: 7/10


Jack Parkes: Writers Block

The Film: 9/10
Pitch: 7/10


Dan Springthorpe: Awake

The Film: 8/10
Pitch: 3/10


Sam Lenton: Knowing Too Much

The Film: 7/10
Pitch: 6/10


Tina Vidmar: Time
The Film: 10/10
Pitch: 5/10


Tom Bentley: Perfect Life

The Film: 6/10
Pitch: 4/10


Cameron Hargreaves: Alone

The Film: 7/10
Pitch: 6/10


The overall winner of GW-HS Short Film Festival was Deanna's film 'Post It' winning by the film and the pitch. However our opinion of the best film, was Tina's choice of 'Time' that really hit home with everybody.

Further Short Film Research

I went away to find three short films, no longer than 5 minutes and analyse them and give our opinions:

Many Moons

This short was made by young British Film Maker, Bertie Gilbert. He specialises  in 'indie' type film making and makes shorts without any context to let the audience figure out themselves.

What Was Good?

• The edit of the shaky cam, blurring the lights around the city.
• The idea that the audience get to figure out their own.
• Lighting and set is great overall.

What would the audience find appealing?

• They can make it relate to their lives as they make their own context.
• It makes you think and engages the audience well.

Possible Target Audience

• 16-24 a very 'teen drama' based piece of work

Dead Girl

This short film 'Dead Girl' was made by Jack and Dean, two actor/director/editors on YouTube that create short comedy films.

What Was Good?

• Camera work for the opening shots was well done, with the tilt up and down and depth of objects in the room.
• The comedy aspect throughout by a well written and acted script.
• The editing of the sound as though they were talking through phones and sounds to accent words or phrases.

What would the audience find appealing?

• The comedic elements that give people laughs.
• The twist at the end with Dean's grandfather.
• The style of acting used to create the comedy.

Possible Target Audience

• 15-21: This style of comedy appeals to young audiences.

Link's Shadow

Link's Shadow is a short film based of video game, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time produced by Corridor Digital who specialise in Video Game based media. 

What Was Good?

• The special effects from digital to make up based effects were excellent quality and tie the whole film together.
• The music in the feature that was played by a real orchestra for the feature itself.

What would the audience find appealing?

• It relates to a video game that they know and love
• The quality of the product produced is a very high standard
• The effects and the storyline stay true to the Zelda franchise 

Possible Target Audience

• 16-25 with a mainly male demographic
• Fans of the Legend of Zelda series

Initial Short Film Research

So as a class we watched three short films, 'The Black Hole', 'What's Virgin Mean' and 'Strangers' all had very different feels and appeals to them so we analysed them:

The Black Hole

What Was Good?

• Acting style and the way the character is portrayed.
• The atmosphere of the film (set, props, lighting and colour)
• The sound effects (especially the warped sound)

What would the audience find appealing?

• The comedic aspect portrayed by the actor
• The film engages the audience quickly 
• Cliffhanger/Karma style ending that is also funny

Possible Target Audience

• Young Adults 17-24

What's A Virgin?

What Was Good?

• The symbolism by the use of props
• The setting is very realistic and relatable for the audience
• It's very comedic from start to end

What would the audience find appealing?

• That it's an awkward but relatable situation in family life
• The twist at the end 'What's extra virgin mean?'

Possible Target Audience

• Parents of Young Children 
• Teens and Young Adults

Strangers

What Was Good?

• Features a huge political statement
• No/Little dialogue needed to portray the story line
• The sound editing, the music reflected the situations perfectly
• Camera work was very well handled with the close ups, P.O.V shots etc.

What would the audience find appealing?

• That it makes a political statement during the current affairs
• It's very bold to create a film like this

Possible Target Audience

• An older audience that would understand the politics involved in the film

What Is A Short Film?

A short film is any piece of film that isn't long enough to be a full feature length film. For a film to be considered a short it is generally 40 minuets or less including a title and credits. Short films can be both made by amateurs or professionals (Pixar and Dreamworks both make shorts) and can range from mostly small or no budget but others can have as much budget as a feature film.

One of the most famous shorts are 'The Three Stooges' shorts that were shown in cinemas in the 1930's-1950's. Like alot of shorts they were full of comedy and slapstick lasting about 15-20 minuets. Modern shorts have become alot more sophisticated with a variety of different genres and styles from jokes to serious matters.

Coursework Brief

This years coursework is compiled of a main task of a Short, 5 minute film and two ancillary tasks related to the product of either, A Film Poster, A Radio Trailer or A Magazine Review for the film. Here is the task in OCR's words:

So this blog will follow my progress in making my final products, along with any knowledge I find along the way.

Welcome

Welcome to my A2 Media blog, that is following on from my AS course after it's completion. This will be where I will post my coursework as I go along from new things I've learnt to a final A2 Media Studies short film in a step by step showing what I'm up to as regard to my Media work.

Lucy