Our main target audience would be teenagers/young adults. Because the audience is gender neutral, we did not have to use any storyline/costume/props that would appeal to solely males or females (such as sci-fi, which is more likely to be watched by a male, or a chick-flick, which is more likely to be watched by a female).
To address our audience, we kept the opening simple and did not bombard them with too much information. You don't learn the main character's name, what his personality is like or how old he is. The only information you learn is that he is most likely depressed, and has been dumped most probably recently by a girl he cared a lot about. This lack of information makes the audience want to know more, and therefore want to watch the rest of the film. They are not left confused as the story is pretty simple, but they may want to know the story behind the relationship and why the girl left the character. This appeals to the audience as teenagers/young adults can relate to relationship problems (as could probably most of the population). However, teenagers/young adults tend to be more dramatic as they are not as mature as older adults, and when dumped may take a more drastic approach. The character may be somebody they could sympathise with.
We attracted the audience through the fact that again, the opening is very simple and it leaves a lot open to question. Curious minds would want to know what happens next, and therefore watch the rest of the film. The character is a teenager, therefore people could connect and would be interested in him as he is around the same age as them. Males could connect with the character through his anger and humiliation at being dumped, and females could connect with the character through sympathising with him as he has not taken being dumped well, and cannot understand why.
Here's some feedback from student's from our class about the film. We showed them the film on finishing it, and used their feedback to make some final touches that would enhance the film even further and attract the audience more.
Friday, 7 May 2010
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Using the camera in the main task was very easy to do, as we had all our knowledge of using it from the preliminary task. However, we had to film outdoors in the main task, which we had not done in the preliminary, and this made us aware of natural lighting, and making sure the camera was not facing the sun and did not have glare from the sun coming into the shots.
The main mistake we made in the preliminary task was crossing the 180 degree line. This made the character switch places on the screen, and made the shot look confusing. Therefore, throughout the whole of filming, we were very careful to keep the camera on the right side of the character, and made sure that it never crossed over to the left. This kept the character on the same side of the screen at all times and avoided confusion.
We used final cut pro when editing our preliminary task, so we had a basic knowledge of how to use it. However for the main task this knowledge became much more extended as we learnt to play around with visual and audio effects, and also transitions between shots. Learning how to do this helped us to change the flashback scenes into black and white, to show that they were at a different time to when the character was on the roof; we also added a shadowy effect to reflect the photographic nature of memory and the fact that some things aren't always clear to remember.
Adding fade in and fade out transitions helped us to create jump cuts, and also helped to portray when real time was 'ending' and when a flashback was beginning. This made the film easier to understand, rather than if the shots just cut from the rooftop to when the character was recieving the bracelet.
Something we hadn't used for our preliminary task on final cut pro was titles. However, they were relatively easy to set up, and after browsing through the different types we could use, we found one that fitted in with the atmosphere of the film. We chose one where the letters faded in and out in a sinister way as it gave a mysterious atmosphere, rather than one that flashed across the screen that would be better suited to an action film.
A program we hadn't used on the preliminary task was garageband. On here, we found two audio pieces that we felt contributed to the film, and gave it it's eerie atmosphere. The first piece was called "Beautiful tension", and was a minor piano playing with a percussion beat in the background. The minor piano gave a sinister feel to the film, and the percussion helped to build tension and suspense. We had "Beautiful tension" over the parts where the character was on the rooftop, to help build suspense about what the character was going to do. The second audio piece we had was a low strings number called "Not so friendly". This was very spooky and cold, and over the flashbacks gave an impression of menace and worry, and showed that this was not a nice memory for the character.
Getting music from garageband onto Final Cut Pro was relatively easy, and quick to learn how to do. I believe if we'd have had more time on the preliminary task, adding music would have been a good technique to do.
Generally, I feel we are a lot better skilled in using Garageband and Final Cut Pro than we were when we did the preliminary task. This is due to the continuous use of it throughout our project. Both the preliminary task and the main task were extremely fun to film and edit, and we have had a great time making them.
The main mistake we made in the preliminary task was crossing the 180 degree line. This made the character switch places on the screen, and made the shot look confusing. Therefore, throughout the whole of filming, we were very careful to keep the camera on the right side of the character, and made sure that it never crossed over to the left. This kept the character on the same side of the screen at all times and avoided confusion.
We used final cut pro when editing our preliminary task, so we had a basic knowledge of how to use it. However for the main task this knowledge became much more extended as we learnt to play around with visual and audio effects, and also transitions between shots. Learning how to do this helped us to change the flashback scenes into black and white, to show that they were at a different time to when the character was on the roof; we also added a shadowy effect to reflect the photographic nature of memory and the fact that some things aren't always clear to remember.
Adding fade in and fade out transitions helped us to create jump cuts, and also helped to portray when real time was 'ending' and when a flashback was beginning. This made the film easier to understand, rather than if the shots just cut from the rooftop to when the character was recieving the bracelet.
Something we hadn't used for our preliminary task on final cut pro was titles. However, they were relatively easy to set up, and after browsing through the different types we could use, we found one that fitted in with the atmosphere of the film. We chose one where the letters faded in and out in a sinister way as it gave a mysterious atmosphere, rather than one that flashed across the screen that would be better suited to an action film.
A program we hadn't used on the preliminary task was garageband. On here, we found two audio pieces that we felt contributed to the film, and gave it it's eerie atmosphere. The first piece was called "Beautiful tension", and was a minor piano playing with a percussion beat in the background. The minor piano gave a sinister feel to the film, and the percussion helped to build tension and suspense. We had "Beautiful tension" over the parts where the character was on the rooftop, to help build suspense about what the character was going to do. The second audio piece we had was a low strings number called "Not so friendly". This was very spooky and cold, and over the flashbacks gave an impression of menace and worry, and showed that this was not a nice memory for the character.
Getting music from garageband onto Final Cut Pro was relatively easy, and quick to learn how to do. I believe if we'd have had more time on the preliminary task, adding music would have been a good technique to do.
Generally, I feel we are a lot better skilled in using Garageband and Final Cut Pro than we were when we did the preliminary task. This is due to the continuous use of it throughout our project. Both the preliminary task and the main task were extremely fun to film and edit, and we have had a great time making them.
Thursday, 6 May 2010
Donnie Darko Soundtrack - Gretchen Ross
This influenced the music we used in our project. The piano adds a soft sentiment to the feel of the film, however the minor tones introduce a sinister, eerie atmosphere. Our music encorporated both of these, to show that the character is not a bad person, but he has had a lot of trouble in his life. Our piano tunes also encorporate percussion in the background, increasing in volume to build suspense and tension. It works well with the shots we have put it with as it gets the viewers heart racing and leads them to believe the film will not end well.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this project?
During the making of this project we learnt many new skills from various media technologies. One in particular was the use of the new Mac computers. Before beginning this project most of the people in our group had not used a Mac before and so it was a little difficult to start with as the layout is different from a ‘pc’. However after a while of searching through the computers and getting to grips to where everything was, we found it easier to work with. We used a editing program called ‘Final Cut Pro’ which was fairly straightforward to navigate around as there was a help bar at the top of the page if we needed to find a certain effect or transition we could just type it in there and it would automatically find it for us. We used this final cut pro to log and capture all out clips and then rearrange them on the timeline and then used a tool called ‘mark in/out’ to crop the parts of the clips we did not need. We used garage band to create the music soundtrack for our film, we combined a variety of different sound together such as ‘beautiful tension’ and ‘not so friendly’ and then exported it from garage band and imported it to final cut pro.
We used the website ‘Blogger’ as a way of showing others our planning and preparation for the prelimary task and the main task. It exhibits everything we did from the very beginning (planning our main task) to the very end (evaluating our main task and the final film opening video) and everything in between such as photographs of the locations we shot in, and screenshots of our project in final cut pro and garage band.
We also used the college canon digital camcorders and tripods, which were not very complicated to use as they had the basic record, pause, rewind, fast forward and play functions. The tripods were easy to assemble as they just required us to open them up using the clips that were provided. When out filming the tripods were essential as we learnt that without the tripod the camera footage is shaky and this is not the effect we were going for. We leant how to mount the camera on the tripod and make it secure. Whilst out filming we had to make sure that we recorded a gap before and after the clip we recorded so it would be easier to edit together and cut sections off without erasing the part of the clip we needed.
We also used a selection of other media technologies which helped contribute to the completing of out project. We used a number of websites to help with the research in pre-production.
We used YouTube to research other openings of films within the same genre of our project. Our genre is psychological/romantic/drama. Therefore the films we researched into were, ‘Donnie Darko’, ‘The Notebook’ and ‘Kidult hood’, as these films were of the same Genre. This helped us to gain a better understanding in the process and development of these films. We also used ‘IMDB’ to research more into these films, it told us who the production companies were who were involved in the making of the films, the running time, any bloopers and trivia, the actors and characters names, the rating of the film, the release date, genre, and who the writer and director were.
We used YouTube to research other openings of films within the same genre of our project. Our genre is psychological/romantic/drama. Therefore the films we researched into were, ‘Donnie Darko’, ‘The Notebook’ and ‘Kidult hood’, as these films were of the same Genre. This helped us to gain a better understanding in the process and development of these films. We also used ‘IMDB’ to research more into these films, it told us who the production companies were who were involved in the making of the films, the running time, any bloopers and trivia, the actors and characters names, the rating of the film, the release date, genre, and who the writer and director were.
We used the website ‘Blogger’ as a way of showing others our planning and preparation for the prelimary task and the main task. It exhibits everything we did from the very beginning (planning our main task) to the very end (evaluating our main task and the final film opening video) and everything in between such as photographs of the locations we shot in, and screenshots of our project in final cut pro and garage band.
How did you attract/ address your audience?
We’ve used specific techniques in our opening sequence to define the genre and address / attract the audience. The non diagetic sound that we’ve applied to our opening sequence is dramatic and conveys the setting and atmosphere, the opening shows the main character dropping a bracelet, a sound effect was added when the bracelet hits the floor which makes it sound large and heavy, this was to illustrate that the bracelet means a lot to the main character and letting it go is a huge deal to him. The audience will pay attention if they hear a distinct and interesting soundtrack and this, in turn, can create atmosphere, emotion and give an overall, general opinion towards the film. Furthermore we have used visual effects in our project such as black and white and earthquake. These demonstrate negative and even delusional behaviour, this was used to add a higher level of complexity to the film to attract and address the audience, even in clips with colour we have lowered the saturation to a cold blue-ish tone to evoke feelings of negativity in those who watch.
There are many different camera angles throughout the opening scene, we have used close up shots on objects so that the audience focuses and absorbs the events occurring. For example, we did a close up of a letter that’s seen more than once in the opening, we did this so that the audience would realise that it’s the same letter throughout and this in turn would help them understand the story line, this was also done with a bracelet. Furthermore to create even more interest we added an affect called stop motion blur, this distorts the image so you cannot make out the image, this creates suspicion and makes the viewer ask questions. We also did close ups on the main characters face to address to the audience about the emotions involved. Long shots were used to create feelings of isolation and loneliness and the cut rate of shots vary throughout the opening giving a disorientated feel, this attracts the audience and distinguishes the genre as a psychological drama.
There are many different camera angles throughout the opening scene, we have used close up shots on objects so that the audience focuses and absorbs the events occurring. For example, we did a close up of a letter that’s seen more than once in the opening, we did this so that the audience would realise that it’s the same letter throughout and this in turn would help them understand the story line, this was also done with a bracelet. Furthermore to create even more interest we added an affect called stop motion blur, this distorts the image so you cannot make out the image, this creates suspicion and makes the viewer ask questions. We also did close ups on the main characters face to address to the audience about the emotions involved. Long shots were used to create feelings of isolation and loneliness and the cut rate of shots vary throughout the opening giving a disorientated feel, this attracts the audience and distinguishes the genre as a psychological drama.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
The audience for my media product would mainly be teenager to young adult in terms of age as it is inappropriate for younger audiences due to suicide that occurs. The audience itself is gender neutral as the product contains factors that would appeal to both men and women, for example the use of romance would appeal to women whilst suicide would appeal to men. Interests of the audience may include romance and the problems in relationships as this is found in the film, furthermore, the audience may have an interest in media and filming and would maybe like to study the camera angles and sound. For our project we are aiming on hitting mass audience as the majority of people can watch it and we want as many people as possible to watch it. Donnie Darko has a similar target audience as it is aimed at a 15+ audience, this may be due to the fact that Donnie Darko is a psychological drama and it is very complicated to understand, so people under the age of 15 may not fully understand what is going on in the film and it would be pointless for them to watch it if they do not know what is going on.
Our film has a variety of genres including, psychological drama, romantic drama, love, loss and relationships. These genres appeal to a variety of people from all different age groups however as our film is rated 12, we have decided to focus on only a few, psychological drama, romance and loss. Films like ‘The Notebook’ and ‘Love actually’ are based on romance and the target audience for these films are usually 12+ (same as our film). Our film is partly influenced by this aspect of the ‘relationships’ genre and partly influenced by other films such as ‘Donnie Darko’ (15+) as it is a psychological drama (so is our film). So the combinations of both these influences have created our final product. It contains material for both men and women which means it’s not targeted towards one particular gender and as a result it has a bigger target audience.
A typical person who our film would appeal to would be someone (male or female) of an age group of approximately 17-24. It would be someone from a working class society who may be attending university and in a part-time job. This person may have a busy social life and attend the cinemas regularly and go out every weekend. It would appeal to people who have already watched and enjoyed films like ‘The Butterfly Effect’, ‘American Beauty’ and obviously ‘Donnie Darko’.
Our film has a variety of genres including, psychological drama, romantic drama, love, loss and relationships. These genres appeal to a variety of people from all different age groups however as our film is rated 12, we have decided to focus on only a few, psychological drama, romance and loss. Films like ‘The Notebook’ and ‘Love actually’ are based on romance and the target audience for these films are usually 12+ (same as our film). Our film is partly influenced by this aspect of the ‘relationships’ genre and partly influenced by other films such as ‘Donnie Darko’ (15+) as it is a psychological drama (so is our film). So the combinations of both these influences have created our final product. It contains material for both men and women which means it’s not targeted towards one particular gender and as a result it has a bigger target audience.
A typical person who our film would appeal to would be someone (male or female) of an age group of approximately 17-24. It would be someone from a working class society who may be attending university and in a part-time job. This person may have a busy social life and attend the cinemas regularly and go out every weekend. It would appeal to people who have already watched and enjoyed films like ‘The Butterfly Effect’, ‘American Beauty’ and obviously ‘Donnie Darko’.
What kind of media institution would distribute your media product and why?
As our media product was influenced by the film Donnie Darko we decided to do some research on the production and distribution companies related to the success of that film. The production companies involved with Donnie Darko include:
Pandora Cinema
Flower Films (II)
Adam Fields Productions
Gaylord Films
These production companies are not hugely popular; the one to produce the most films is Pandora Cinema which has produced a total of 28 films. We would probably trust this production company in making our film as the company has good experience in making various genres of film and as our film includes various qualities from different genres (for example, romance, drama etc) it would be the most suitable. Furthermore they may be interested in our project as it is similar to Donnie Darko. The budget for Donnie Darko was $4,500,000 and this is a reasonably low budget compared to mainstream Hollywood blockbusters. Our film will have a similar if not lower budget; British production companies that work with low budget films include Working Title and we would contact a company with similar qualities to help us produce our media product. To distribute our film we would use a variety of advertising methods such as free advertisement, which includes posters, radio interviews and TV appearances. This would increase word of mouth and cause a larger audience to view our film. Distribution companies in the UK include:
BFI Distribution
British Film Institute
21 Stephen Street
London
W1P 2LN
T 020 7957 8925/8938
F 020 7580 5830
Goldcrest Films International
65-66 Dean Street
London
W1D 4PL
T 020 7437 8696
F 020 7437 4448
Lionsgate
FilmsAriel House
74a Charlotte Street
London
W1T 4QJ
T 020 7636 3935
F 020 7323 0961
We would most likely trust Goldcrest Films International as our distribution company as it distributes low to medium budget films such as the British film ‘A room with a view’. This film had quite a low budget of $3,000,000 but it did extremely well in the Box office and made millions, because of this, we would most likely contact them and see whether they would distribute our project to the best of their ability.
Pandora Cinema
Flower Films (II)
Adam Fields Productions
Gaylord Films
These production companies are not hugely popular; the one to produce the most films is Pandora Cinema which has produced a total of 28 films. We would probably trust this production company in making our film as the company has good experience in making various genres of film and as our film includes various qualities from different genres (for example, romance, drama etc) it would be the most suitable. Furthermore they may be interested in our project as it is similar to Donnie Darko. The budget for Donnie Darko was $4,500,000 and this is a reasonably low budget compared to mainstream Hollywood blockbusters. Our film will have a similar if not lower budget; British production companies that work with low budget films include Working Title and we would contact a company with similar qualities to help us produce our media product. To distribute our film we would use a variety of advertising methods such as free advertisement, which includes posters, radio interviews and TV appearances. This would increase word of mouth and cause a larger audience to view our film. Distribution companies in the UK include:
BFI Distribution
British Film Institute
21 Stephen Street
London
W1P 2LN
T 020 7957 8925/8938
F 020 7580 5830
Goldcrest Films International
65-66 Dean Street
London
W1D 4PL
T 020 7437 8696
F 020 7437 4448
Lionsgate
FilmsAriel House
74a Charlotte Street
London
W1T 4QJ
T 020 7636 3935
F 020 7323 0961
We would most likely trust Goldcrest Films International as our distribution company as it distributes low to medium budget films such as the British film ‘A room with a view’. This film had quite a low budget of $3,000,000 but it did extremely well in the Box office and made millions, because of this, we would most likely contact them and see whether they would distribute our project to the best of their ability.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Our media product represents particular social groups in a variety of different ways. Firstly, the main character is represented by having depression and even possibly having a mental illness, we came up with the idea of basing the main character on Donnie from the film ‘Donnie Darko’ who himself has a mental disorder. To represent this delusional state, we used certain video distort effects such as earthquake to show anxiety and nervousness. We also sped up parts of the film to add abruptness and to express the feelings of the situation. We changed the colour settings to black and white on the flashbacks to create a gloomy atmosphere and we used an eerie track called ‘not so friendly’. To add tension we also used a second track called ‘beautiful tension’, the sounds we used in our project are also similar to the ones in ‘Donnie Darko’ and symbolise mystery. To suit stereotypical qualities, the main character also wore dark clothes.
In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
When making a film project, you want it to look professional and have a similar quality as a real media product; you can do this by producing the media project similarly to how people would publish a real media product e.g. using the same equipment etc. Our media product uses various forms and conventions of real media products. Firstly, when filming our product we used a tripod to keep the camera steady, this helps to keep filming smooth and consistent but also gives it a level of professionalism. Without it, our product would lack quality. Even though the equipment we were using was of a lower standard compared to the equipment used in real media products, we incorporated camera angles and different levels of lighting to improve the quality.
To add consistency to our piece we made sure that each shot went into the next and it didn’t jump. Furthermore, if a new scene was to be introduced we added a slow fade into blackness, these transitions and continuity shots are commonly seen in real media products. When filming we tried to make it as continuous and accurate as possible, to do this we filmed in the same type of weather and made sure that anything that shouldn’t be included in the scene was moved out the way, we kept the costume, hair and other things similar unless it was a scene in a different time period.
When it came to editing we used software called ‘final cut pro’, this software is of very good standard, you can distort video clips, add extra colour, speed up clips and add transitions amongst various other things. Even though the software isn’t as complex as software used by professionals you can make any film project near to the quality of real media products. In our project we used various effects to convey feelings and emotion such as the effect ‘earthquake’, this turns the clip shaky and we used it to portray anxiety, to make this feeling even more expressive we made the clip faster so everything sped up. Also, when a flashback occurs we increased the light intensity and also used a video filter called, stop motion blur, this gives the clip a very impressive visual quality and creates suspense.
The genre of our piece is drama. Drama is probably the largest genre and they’re very serious and portray realistic story lines. The characters, settings and life situations involved are all fairly complex and realistic and they don’t usually focus on special effects or humour. Our project is similar and applies this. The pre recorded track created on garage band has been added to muted video clips, it involves a piano piece that adds tension and an eerie track that builds suspense and mystery and informs the viewer that the clip is a flashback. Mise en scene shows abstract scenery which is usually urban; this is also commonly seen in drama genres. However to make ours slightly different to a drama, we decided to put the dramatic scene at the beginning (man committing suicide) rather than at the end.
We have been inspired by other films such as Donnie Darko, as in Donnie Darko they have used effects such as scenes that were sped up to create a unusual atmosphere, we also used a speed effect during the scene when the main character is walking towards the edge of the railings. This created the effect that he was not in his right mind and was disorientated and confused. Furthermore Donnie Darko is a psychological drama and our film is also a psychological drama we chose this genre as we thought it best represented what was going on in our opening scene as when the audience watch it they are at first puzzled by the whereabouts of the main character, its only until there is a establishing (pov) shot looking down on the moving traffic below that the audience are aware that he is on top of a building.
To add consistency to our piece we made sure that each shot went into the next and it didn’t jump. Furthermore, if a new scene was to be introduced we added a slow fade into blackness, these transitions and continuity shots are commonly seen in real media products. When filming we tried to make it as continuous and accurate as possible, to do this we filmed in the same type of weather and made sure that anything that shouldn’t be included in the scene was moved out the way, we kept the costume, hair and other things similar unless it was a scene in a different time period.
When it came to editing we used software called ‘final cut pro’, this software is of very good standard, you can distort video clips, add extra colour, speed up clips and add transitions amongst various other things. Even though the software isn’t as complex as software used by professionals you can make any film project near to the quality of real media products. In our project we used various effects to convey feelings and emotion such as the effect ‘earthquake’, this turns the clip shaky and we used it to portray anxiety, to make this feeling even more expressive we made the clip faster so everything sped up. Also, when a flashback occurs we increased the light intensity and also used a video filter called, stop motion blur, this gives the clip a very impressive visual quality and creates suspense.
The genre of our piece is drama. Drama is probably the largest genre and they’re very serious and portray realistic story lines. The characters, settings and life situations involved are all fairly complex and realistic and they don’t usually focus on special effects or humour. Our project is similar and applies this. The pre recorded track created on garage band has been added to muted video clips, it involves a piano piece that adds tension and an eerie track that builds suspense and mystery and informs the viewer that the clip is a flashback. Mise en scene shows abstract scenery which is usually urban; this is also commonly seen in drama genres. However to make ours slightly different to a drama, we decided to put the dramatic scene at the beginning (man committing suicide) rather than at the end.
We have been inspired by other films such as Donnie Darko, as in Donnie Darko they have used effects such as scenes that were sped up to create a unusual atmosphere, we also used a speed effect during the scene when the main character is walking towards the edge of the railings. This created the effect that he was not in his right mind and was disorientated and confused. Furthermore Donnie Darko is a psychological drama and our film is also a psychological drama we chose this genre as we thought it best represented what was going on in our opening scene as when the audience watch it they are at first puzzled by the whereabouts of the main character, its only until there is a establishing (pov) shot looking down on the moving traffic below that the audience are aware that he is on top of a building.
Tuesday, 4 May 2010
Tuesday, 27 April 2010
Rating
We have come to the conclusion that our film would be in the 12/12A category. The BBFC guidelines state that to watch a 12/12A film a child must be aged 12 or over or be accompanied by an adult. The reason for this is because our film is based around the death of the main character, and it was implied that he was suffering from depression, and has committed suicide, as a result we think it would be unwise to show this to children under the age of 12 as they might get upset or the film may have an negative effects on them.
A 12/12A film can contain violence but not extreme violence to the point that it would mentally scar the audience. This fits in with our film as throughout, there will be some scenes of violence, but not to that extreme extent. Hazardous Behaviour by characters is acceptable in a 12/12A such as committing suicide, self harming, or taking an overdose. However if these behaviours become inappropriately dangerous them the rating show be heightened to a ‘15’.
The British Board of film classification takes into account a number of factors when desiding what classification to give a film. It looks at; Discrimination, drugs, horror, imitable behaviour. language, nudity,sex, theme, violence, titles and the frequency of sound. The theme of our film is based around a man killing himself and this has a huge influence on the classification we used, as this type of content may make some people feel uneasy or emotional, also some people are more sensitive to this type of material and it may harm them psychologically to watch material that is disturbing or distresing. Violence also plays a part in our film and again this can lead to some audience members feeling uncomfortable . The violence that is potrayed in our film is not that of a 'extreme' violent film but it does contain some mild violence. BBFC states that strong language in not permitted in trailers or advertisments of a category below '15', as a result we had to make sure our project contained no strong language, this was not a problem as we only used non- diagetic sound on the soundtrack and voice over, and in the voice over we used no inappropriate language.
In a typical '12' film the BBFC states that Discrimination of others or discriminatory behaviour must not be allowed in any part of the film overall. Behaviour or language that is clearly discriminatory is unlikely to be suitable, unless it is clearly condemned. In our project we stuck
by this rule as there was no evidence of discrimination during our opening scene and it is unlikey that there would be and form of discrimination throughout the rest of our film. The BBFC also have problems with using drugs and for a '12' film the use of drugs should only be rare and not be portrayed in a way that may mislead the audience of the true effects of the drugs, also there should be no instructions to to audience on how to use the drugs. Our project stuck by this policy as we had no evidnece of any drug use or information on how to obtain or use drugs. Another
criteria is 'Horror', mild horror is permitted in a '12' film however it should not be frequent or continuous. However to some audience members our project could be seen a a horror as it invoves some shocking scenes (when the main character jumps of the building). this is still within the BBFC guidelines and so it is still suitable as a '12' film. Imitable behaviour is tone of the main
criteria that our film contains and it contains dangerous behaviours such as suicide, however during the film there is no evidence of how others could copy the actions of the character and replicate the dangerous behaviour. A further criteria is 'Language' a '12' film can contain moderate language but strong language must be very rare and infrequent, again our project contains no strong language and so it is keeping with this guideline. Nudity and sex in a '12' film is allowed however it must be discreet our project contains no nudity or sex therfore we did not have ant problems with these guidelines. Themes for a '12' film can be mature but they must be suitable for young teenagers, our theme is primarily a psychological drama and films similar to ours are 'Donnie Darko', this film was very succesful with teenagers and contained a mature theme. The last BBFC guidleline is 'Violence', for a '12' film moderate violence is allowed, however blood or injury should not be highlighted, in our film violence is not emphasised its much more about the psychological emotions the characters are faced with.
Screenshots
Screenshots: Final Cut Pro and Garageband.
This is a screenshot of a clip from a track on Garageband. We cut the track to the clip that we wanted, which we felt would go best with our film and which increases the tension of the scene. The clip of music is from a track called: "Beautiful tension". It involves a main piano riff repeating throughout the track, with drums coming in behind it at different parts. It is very eerie and unsettling, and works perfectly to create tension in our film.
This is a screenshot of our unfinished film on the timeline in Final Cut Pro. The film isn't finished here but it shows the main basic draft of how our finished timeline will look. It has film clips, voice over clips and music encorporated together to make our film look as professional as possible. The only thing that needs to be added here will be the titles for our film, and a sound effect of the wind whistling at the end (where the character is on the roof).
This screenshot a clip of music that we have exported from Garageband and imported into Final Cut Pro so that we can encorporate it into our film. This track is called: "Not so friendly", and is mainly made up of low strings and synths to create a tense, spooky atmosphere. This will go over the top of the flashback scenes to show that these scenes are dark and tense, and are going to lead to bad things. This music gives the perfect sense of underlying suspense and tension, and helps to enhance the characters frame of mind to the audience.
This is a shot of everything that we work with on Final Cut Pro. The shotlist is in the top left corner-these are all the clips that we have captured from the camera and used in the timeline. They are only rough-the finished clips that have been cut and cropped in the right places are on the timeline-this is going across the bottom. The timeline also has music and a voice over integrated into the film, in the right places; therefore the whole film is coming together with effects and music. The box in the top right hand corner is a clip of music that will be cropped and added to the timeline to accompany certain scenes and enhance the atmosphere of them.
This is a zoomed in version of the shotlist-you can see there are a great number of shots that we captured from filming. We didn't use all of these shots-only the best ones made it onto the timeline to be used in the film. This gave the film the best production value, and also made sure that there were no parts in the film that we felt could be better.
This is the starting shot of our film on Final Cut Pro-it starts with the character walking up a flight of stairs. On this we can watch the whole film, complete with music and voice over once they had been added to the timeline. Using this, we can see what works with the film and what doesn't.
This is a screenshot of a clip from a track on Garageband. We cut the track to the clip that we wanted, which we felt would go best with our film and which increases the tension of the scene. The clip of music is from a track called: "Beautiful tension". It involves a main piano riff repeating throughout the track, with drums coming in behind it at different parts. It is very eerie and unsettling, and works perfectly to create tension in our film.
This is a screenshot of our unfinished film on the timeline in Final Cut Pro. The film isn't finished here but it shows the main basic draft of how our finished timeline will look. It has film clips, voice over clips and music encorporated together to make our film look as professional as possible. The only thing that needs to be added here will be the titles for our film, and a sound effect of the wind whistling at the end (where the character is on the roof).
This screenshot a clip of music that we have exported from Garageband and imported into Final Cut Pro so that we can encorporate it into our film. This track is called: "Not so friendly", and is mainly made up of low strings and synths to create a tense, spooky atmosphere. This will go over the top of the flashback scenes to show that these scenes are dark and tense, and are going to lead to bad things. This music gives the perfect sense of underlying suspense and tension, and helps to enhance the characters frame of mind to the audience.
This is a shot of everything that we work with on Final Cut Pro. The shotlist is in the top left corner-these are all the clips that we have captured from the camera and used in the timeline. They are only rough-the finished clips that have been cut and cropped in the right places are on the timeline-this is going across the bottom. The timeline also has music and a voice over integrated into the film, in the right places; therefore the whole film is coming together with effects and music. The box in the top right hand corner is a clip of music that will be cropped and added to the timeline to accompany certain scenes and enhance the atmosphere of them.
This is a zoomed in version of the shotlist-you can see there are a great number of shots that we captured from filming. We didn't use all of these shots-only the best ones made it onto the timeline to be used in the film. This gave the film the best production value, and also made sure that there were no parts in the film that we felt could be better.
This is the starting shot of our film on Final Cut Pro-it starts with the character walking up a flight of stairs. On this we can watch the whole film, complete with music and voice over once they had been added to the timeline. Using this, we can see what works with the film and what doesn't.
Finishing the film...
27/04/10.
Today we are very close to finishing our film. We have completely finished filming, and have the film on the timeline (on Final Cut Pro) all set and ready with effects added and the continuity sorted and flowing. We have added music (from Garageband) to fade in and out of the areas we want music on, and are just finishing adding the titles. The titles will be over the film shots, not by themselves, to take the audience straight into the action rather than teasing them into it. This gives the immediate effect that this is a production they need to be watching, and that needs their attention.
The titles we are putting in are: (in order)
A Rawfootage production
In association with Red Boots Ltd
An Aerial View film
'A Long Way Down'.
We have decided to finally call our film 'A Long Way Down' because this metaphorically represents the decline in the main characters mental health (which is what the film will be about). The opening is just a glimpse of this decline, but the end glimpse, so the rest of the film will lead up to this moment. It also physically represents the characters jump: we see in one of the shots that to reach the floor it is a 'long way down'.
Today we are very close to finishing our film. We have completely finished filming, and have the film on the timeline (on Final Cut Pro) all set and ready with effects added and the continuity sorted and flowing. We have added music (from Garageband) to fade in and out of the areas we want music on, and are just finishing adding the titles. The titles will be over the film shots, not by themselves, to take the audience straight into the action rather than teasing them into it. This gives the immediate effect that this is a production they need to be watching, and that needs their attention.
The titles we are putting in are: (in order)
A Rawfootage production
In association with Red Boots Ltd
An Aerial View film
'A Long Way Down'.
We have decided to finally call our film 'A Long Way Down' because this metaphorically represents the decline in the main characters mental health (which is what the film will be about). The opening is just a glimpse of this decline, but the end glimpse, so the rest of the film will lead up to this moment. It also physically represents the characters jump: we see in one of the shots that to reach the floor it is a 'long way down'.
Thursday, 15 April 2010
Filming schedule
Filming Schedule
Thurs 25th February: Filming (Graveyard)/Updating blog
Tues 2nd March: Filming (Arndale Car Park)
Thurs 4th March: Editing (Putting clips together) /Updating blog
Editing: Riosin, Stefan
Blog: Beth, Rachel
Tues 11th March: Filming (Phone booth and additional rooftop clips)
Thurs 13th March: Editing (Putting clips together) / Updating blog
Editing: Beth, Roisin
Blog: Rachel, Stefan
Tuesday 17th March: Filming (Café scene)
Wednesday 18th: Filming (Burning letter)
(Camera taken to Stefan’s house)
Thursday 19th: Editing (Putting clips together)/Updating blog
Editing: Rachel, Stefan
Blog: Beth, Roisin
Tuesday 24th: Editing (Adding effects)/Updating blog
Editing: Beth, Rachel
Blog: Roisin, Stefan
Thursday 26th: Editing (Adding effects and sound)/updating blog
Holiday
Tuesday 13th April: Updating blog/ Voice over
Voice over: Stefan
Blog: Beth, Rachel
Thursday 15th April: Editing (Sound)/updating blog
Updating blog: Rachel, Stefan
Editing: Roisin
Thurs 25th February: Filming (Graveyard)/Updating blog
Tues 2nd March: Filming (Arndale Car Park)
Thurs 4th March: Editing (Putting clips together) /Updating blog
Editing: Riosin, Stefan
Blog: Beth, Rachel
Tues 11th March: Filming (Phone booth and additional rooftop clips)
Thurs 13th March: Editing (Putting clips together) / Updating blog
Editing: Beth, Roisin
Blog: Rachel, Stefan
Tuesday 17th March: Filming (Café scene)
Wednesday 18th: Filming (Burning letter)
(Camera taken to Stefan’s house)
Thursday 19th: Editing (Putting clips together)/Updating blog
Editing: Rachel, Stefan
Blog: Beth, Roisin
Tuesday 24th: Editing (Adding effects)/Updating blog
Editing: Beth, Rachel
Blog: Roisin, Stefan
Thursday 26th: Editing (Adding effects and sound)/updating blog
Holiday
Tuesday 13th April: Updating blog/ Voice over
Voice over: Stefan
Blog: Beth, Rachel
Thursday 15th April: Editing (Sound)/updating blog
Updating blog: Rachel, Stefan
Editing: Roisin
Tuesday, 13 April 2010
Editing Process 13th April
We edited our footage on an apple IMac using the program ‘final cut pro’. We first captured our clips by transferring them from the digital camcorders to the computer. Once we had captured all the clips we renamed them in the order we were required to use them. We then transferred each clip individually to the timeline and removed the areas of the clip we did not need. This required a lot of concentration as we had never used final cut pro before and need to get used to it, but once we got to grips with the software we found it easier to edit. Once all the clips were in the timeline and the clips we did not need were removed we then started to work on the transitions of one scene to another. We had to make sure the editing was continuous throughout the clips and ran smoothly as this adds to the effect of realism. However we did use a jump cut on the rooftop scene as we thought this would reflect his feeling at the time as he was nervous and erratic and this is reflected in the shot. The transitions we used mostly faded to black as this is a simple yet efficient transition. Later on in the rooftop scene we added a distortion effect when the main character was walking away from the camera through the puddle; this created an earthquake effect and will show the audience that the character is troubled and frantic.
There were some difficulties when editing as we were new to this software and we experienced problems at the beginning of editing when we were saving our project. We did save our project however when we returned to the computers to open our file we found it was not there. At first we thought we had misplaced it and looked all over the computer in everyone’s files but it was not there. After a while we decided to use the search bar at the top of the computer to find our work , we typed in the date we had last edited and found that our project had been split into many different sections and was spread out in a random file somewhere deep in the computer’s memory. However it was not saved where we had originally saved it. To avoid this problem further we collected all our clips and placed them in a new file and named this file “26th march 2010”. And made sure to save it in the same place every time we changed something to the project, thankfully this problem never occurred again.Once we had all the clips in order on the timeline, had transitions in each clip and had the most effective video effects we had the basic outline for our final project, all that was needed to do now was to add the music in the background and add a voice over. We will then put it all together and see if there are any adjustments we need to make before we send it to the blog via YouTube.
There were some difficulties when editing as we were new to this software and we experienced problems at the beginning of editing when we were saving our project. We did save our project however when we returned to the computers to open our file we found it was not there. At first we thought we had misplaced it and looked all over the computer in everyone’s files but it was not there. After a while we decided to use the search bar at the top of the computer to find our work , we typed in the date we had last edited and found that our project had been split into many different sections and was spread out in a random file somewhere deep in the computer’s memory. However it was not saved where we had originally saved it. To avoid this problem further we collected all our clips and placed them in a new file and named this file “26th march 2010”. And made sure to save it in the same place every time we changed something to the project, thankfully this problem never occurred again.Once we had all the clips in order on the timeline, had transitions in each clip and had the most effective video effects we had the basic outline for our final project, all that was needed to do now was to add the music in the background and add a voice over. We will then put it all together and see if there are any adjustments we need to make before we send it to the blog via YouTube.
Filming Process 13th April
Before we started filming our opening introduction, we had to make detailed plans of every aspect of the project. We decided on locations (graveyard, arndale, car park, café, and garden), props (bracelet and letter), costume (dark baggy clothes) and storyline etc. When deciding these, we had to think carefully of whether they were suitable for the project. We had to incorporate effect without using inappropriate content e.g. drugs, weapons etc as we are in a Catholic college and these would be seen as offensive. We came up with the story by talking and taking in and noting everyone’s ideas down and combining them to create our story. Once we had this, we created a detailed shot list which we used as a structure to our filming, this made it easier while we were out filming so we knew what we had to do and this also reduced filming time. When out filming we realised there were contributing factors to having a good shot. For example, weather is extremely important when filming, it sets the atmosphere and also if you are going out filming more than once you must make sure the weather is the same, otherwise this wouldn’t be continuity editing. The weather was poor when filming the graveyard scene, as we were working with expensive equipment we had to make sure it was protected from the rain. We did this by placing an umbrella over the camera and tripod. When filming on the rooftop we made sure that the weather was sunny with some cloud as this is what the weather was like on our first day of shooting on the rooftop.
When we planned our locations we were going to film it on the top of the CSI building in Manchester, however later we found this was not possible due to complications and health and safety regulations. Instead we compromised and filmed on top of the arndale car park which was just as effective. Furthermore we were going to a flash back scene involving an 11 year old witnessing a terrible argument between his parents. However this was not possible, the boy’s parents didn’t want him to be filmed, our first response was to get another person to play the boy but instead we came up with a different, more effective flashback scene involving the character receiving a letter from his girlfriend and then him burning it later on.
The filming itself went very well, we made sure we brought all the equipment back and had contact numbers for college and each other in case an emergency occurred while out filming. We were all very reliable, responsible and mature and worked well in a team, this is essential when doing film work.
Overall we had some difficulties but overcame these by working in a team and using each other’s ideas and opinions. We made sure everybody contributed equally to the filming process and made effort to all areas, adding detail as we went along.
When we planned our locations we were going to film it on the top of the CSI building in Manchester, however later we found this was not possible due to complications and health and safety regulations. Instead we compromised and filmed on top of the arndale car park which was just as effective. Furthermore we were going to a flash back scene involving an 11 year old witnessing a terrible argument between his parents. However this was not possible, the boy’s parents didn’t want him to be filmed, our first response was to get another person to play the boy but instead we came up with a different, more effective flashback scene involving the character receiving a letter from his girlfriend and then him burning it later on.
The filming itself went very well, we made sure we brought all the equipment back and had contact numbers for college and each other in case an emergency occurred while out filming. We were all very reliable, responsible and mature and worked well in a team, this is essential when doing film work.
Overall we had some difficulties but overcame these by working in a team and using each other’s ideas and opinions. We made sure everybody contributed equally to the filming process and made effort to all areas, adding detail as we went along.
Thursday, 25 March 2010
Editing so far... (25th March 2010)
Last lesson we went for our final film shoot and shot a variety of scenes, one which involved the main character (Jack) sitting in a cafe (we went to a cafe in Hulme indoor market), opening and reading a letter sent by his ex girlfriend in which she retured a bracelet which he had once given her and the other scene where the main character attempts to ring his ex girlfriend but is unsucessful in contacting her. Also we filimed another flash back scene which involved the main character burning the letter, this was shot at night which we thought made the clip more effective as it made him seen more vunerable and sinister.
In todays lesson we had a few difficulties locating our saved project file as is was not saved in the place we thought we had originally saved it, thankfully after about 10 moniutes of serching for the file we found it, we have now realised that when editing we need to take extra care when saving our project and so to make sure this doesnt happen again we renamed our project so it is easier to locate we have called it 'March 25th filming' so the next time we edit our film we will be able to find the saved project with no hassle.
Then we logged and captured the footage we had filimed the lesson before and carried on editing the clips together and adding effects and transitions. We also learnt a new technique when usings the mac's to log and capture new footage. What we learnt was that we do not need to use the digital camecorder to rewind the footage when capturing as we can use the keyboard to rewind, fast forward, pause and play.
We desided that the flashback of the graveyard did not fit right in the place we had it originally and thought it would make the project flow better if we put it at the beginning of the film.
In todays lesson we had a few difficulties locating our saved project file as is was not saved in the place we thought we had originally saved it, thankfully after about 10 moniutes of serching for the file we found it, we have now realised that when editing we need to take extra care when saving our project and so to make sure this doesnt happen again we renamed our project so it is easier to locate we have called it 'March 25th filming' so the next time we edit our film we will be able to find the saved project with no hassle.
Then we logged and captured the footage we had filimed the lesson before and carried on editing the clips together and adding effects and transitions. We also learnt a new technique when usings the mac's to log and capture new footage. What we learnt was that we do not need to use the digital camecorder to rewind the footage when capturing as we can use the keyboard to rewind, fast forward, pause and play.
We desided that the flashback of the graveyard did not fit right in the place we had it originally and thought it would make the project flow better if we put it at the beginning of the film.
Thursday, 18 March 2010
Voice over.
We are going to include a voice over in our film. It will be a letter being read out by the main character-a reply to one we see early on in the film. This reply is more than a letter, it is a suicide note. The character is saying his last thoughts to his ex-girlfriend. This is a draft of the letter:
"To ..........
So you're leaving me. Without an explanation. Without giving me a chance to fight for you. Did you expect me just to accept it? Move on with my life, never to see you again? You don't know me at all.
You're the only one I have. I wish I could talk to (martha). (S)he'd know what to do, and tell me how to cope. But I can't. When (martha) left me, left this world, you were the only one who helped was there. Who wiped each tear and whispered to me that everything was going to be ok. And I believed your lies.
You helped me through that. But who's going to help me through this?! Memories are what you have when you've lost everything. You've not even left me those...so what do I have left? I don't know how to not love you. And I don't know how to let you go.
It will always sadden me that I will not get to share my life with you. Without you, there's no meaning to life.
I hope you mourn for me the way I have for you.
Till death do us part..."
"To ..........
So you're leaving me. Without an explanation. Without giving me a chance to fight for you. Did you expect me just to accept it? Move on with my life, never to see you again? You don't know me at all.
You're the only one I have. I wish I could talk to (martha). (S)he'd know what to do, and tell me how to cope. But I can't. When (martha) left me, left this world, you were the only one who helped was there. Who wiped each tear and whispered to me that everything was going to be ok. And I believed your lies.
You helped me through that. But who's going to help me through this?! Memories are what you have when you've lost everything. You've not even left me those...so what do I have left? I don't know how to not love you. And I don't know how to let you go.
It will always sadden me that I will not get to share my life with you. Without you, there's no meaning to life.
I hope you mourn for me the way I have for you.
Till death do us part..."
Editing and developments
Whilst editing the film clips we have today, we worked out what we have to film next lesson to complete our filming. These things include two more flashbacks:
Flashback 1: The main character opens an envelope that contains a letter from his ex-girlfriend; she is breaking up with him. When he opens the letter, a silver bracelet falls out-a present that she has returned to him. This bracelet will link up with the main story as the main character drops it in a puddle just before he decides to jump. This gives the idea that his girlfriend ending their relationship was a contributing factor to him jumping.
Flashback 2: The main character burns the letter from his ex-girlfriend in a fireplace. We will film the letter burning, and also a shot of the light of the fire on his face and reflected in his eyes. This flashback shows that he is not completely 'with it' as burning the letter is not a rational response; also, the fire being reflected in his eyes symbolises the 'burning' he is feeling inside and also emphasises him loosing his mind.
We also need to film some close ups of the characters face to add a variety of shots to our shotlist. This also gives a greater insight into the characters emotions: "the eyes are the window to the soul".
_____________________________________________________
Whilst editing today we have got most of the film onto the timeline and matched up so that the editing is continuous and flows neatly into each shot. We have also added some effects to make increase the atmosphere created by the film; fade in and out in some shots, and also sped up some of the shots and slowed down others, to create a jittery effect which reflects how the character is feeling.
We have also started to look at music that is going to go with our film. Nothing has been definately decided yet, however some of the tracks we may use are:
Beautiful tension long.
Not so friendly short.
We are experimenting with different sounds on garageband but have all agreed that a minor, mysterious track would go best with our film as it increases the sense of tension and suspense.
Flashback 1: The main character opens an envelope that contains a letter from his ex-girlfriend; she is breaking up with him. When he opens the letter, a silver bracelet falls out-a present that she has returned to him. This bracelet will link up with the main story as the main character drops it in a puddle just before he decides to jump. This gives the idea that his girlfriend ending their relationship was a contributing factor to him jumping.
Flashback 2: The main character burns the letter from his ex-girlfriend in a fireplace. We will film the letter burning, and also a shot of the light of the fire on his face and reflected in his eyes. This flashback shows that he is not completely 'with it' as burning the letter is not a rational response; also, the fire being reflected in his eyes symbolises the 'burning' he is feeling inside and also emphasises him loosing his mind.
We also need to film some close ups of the characters face to add a variety of shots to our shotlist. This also gives a greater insight into the characters emotions: "the eyes are the window to the soul".
_____________________________________________________
Whilst editing today we have got most of the film onto the timeline and matched up so that the editing is continuous and flows neatly into each shot. We have also added some effects to make increase the atmosphere created by the film; fade in and out in some shots, and also sped up some of the shots and slowed down others, to create a jittery effect which reflects how the character is feeling.
We have also started to look at music that is going to go with our film. Nothing has been definately decided yet, however some of the tracks we may use are:
Beautiful tension long.
Not so friendly short.
We are experimenting with different sounds on garageband but have all agreed that a minor, mysterious track would go best with our film as it increases the sense of tension and suspense.
Thursday, 11 March 2010
Summary so far.
summary for filming...
In the last few lessons we have been out on location filming on the top of Manchester Arndale car park. Both times we went filming the weather was relatively similar, so we were quite lucky and hopefully the scenes won't differ too much. We filmed a variety of shots including point of view shots and close ups, we also did a few panning and tilting shots. We used a puddle in the ground to create a reflective effect when tilting the camera from the main characters feet to head which we though looks very effective. We also filmed two establishing shots from a birds eye view to show the audince the locations in which we were shooting, we filmed a typical landmark of Mancherter (the wheel) to emphazise this.
summary for editing...
Filming went well and we have managed to get most of the scenes we need. We have captured the clips that were on the 'canon' digital video camera and put the on final cut pro. We then edited the clips toghether and worked out we should only need one more period of filming to get all the scenes we need to complete the filming. Once we captured all the clips we renamed them according to what they were off, we then put them in order of how they would be in the final piece using final cut pro using the imac computers. We used the 'mark in' and 'mark out' tool on the keyboard to cut the extra bits of the clips we did'nt need or would'nt match.
We have all contributed to the direction of these scenes, and find that we are still working very well as a group. We have been taking it in turns as the role of the camera person, director, and runner, and we are all now very confident with using the camera and tripod.
In the last few lessons we have been out on location filming on the top of Manchester Arndale car park. Both times we went filming the weather was relatively similar, so we were quite lucky and hopefully the scenes won't differ too much. We filmed a variety of shots including point of view shots and close ups, we also did a few panning and tilting shots. We used a puddle in the ground to create a reflective effect when tilting the camera from the main characters feet to head which we though looks very effective. We also filmed two establishing shots from a birds eye view to show the audince the locations in which we were shooting, we filmed a typical landmark of Mancherter (the wheel) to emphazise this.
summary for editing...
Filming went well and we have managed to get most of the scenes we need. We have captured the clips that were on the 'canon' digital video camera and put the on final cut pro. We then edited the clips toghether and worked out we should only need one more period of filming to get all the scenes we need to complete the filming. Once we captured all the clips we renamed them according to what they were off, we then put them in order of how they would be in the final piece using final cut pro using the imac computers. We used the 'mark in' and 'mark out' tool on the keyboard to cut the extra bits of the clips we did'nt need or would'nt match.
We have all contributed to the direction of these scenes, and find that we are still working very well as a group. We have been taking it in turns as the role of the camera person, director, and runner, and we are all now very confident with using the camera and tripod.
Thursday, 4 March 2010
Behind the scenes extras
Here are a few behind the scenes shots we took when we went filming on the 2nd March 2010.
These are the footprints that are made by the character when he walks through a puddle on the rooftop. The fact he walks through the puddle and not around it demonstrates the idea that he doesn't care if his feet get wet or not, and also that he is determined to get the the place he wants to be (the edge of the car park) as quickly as possible-he does not want to take the long way around.
This is the camera and tripod that we used to film out project, we used a canon digital minidv camcorder, and a standard black tripod.
This is a 'behind the scenes' photograph to show the location in which we filmed part of our project. This was the roof of the Arnedale car park and we deliberalty choose to have the Manchester wheel in the background in the establishing shot to show the audiene the location of the opening of the film.
This is a reflection snapshot of a scene in the project, the character is looking down into the puddle and reminising on his life so far. He is in a deep depression and is on his way to commit suicide.
This is the footprints of the main character, he walked through a puddle therefore his feet are wet, and them he walks onto a dry ground leaving footprints in this path, these footprints symbolise the ending of his life as they are the only things left of him when he finally jumps.
This is another 'behind the scenes' photograph , showing the production team hard at work, in theis photo it is showing the scene where the main character is looking down on the busy people in the roads below going about their daily buisness. Here a mid-long shot was filmed.
again this is another 'behind the scenes' shot, just like before it is the scene in which the main character is looking down on the moving traffic and busy people. However this is a long-shot of the character.
this behind the scenes photograph is of the cameraperson and runner changing the size of the tripod so it is higher so it can create a better view of the establishing shot of the location of the film.
Here is a behind the scenes shot with the tripod in the foreground and the main character and cameraperson, here the cameraperson is showing the main character how to hold the camera (close to your chest) to create less shakyness, as he is about to film a point of view shot down on the main road.
here again the cameraperson is showing the character how to hold the camera the create less shake-ness.
this is a snapshot from a scene in the opening of the film. The footprints were created by the main character walking through a puddle and then walking out into the dry ground. This is very effective as his footprints stop at the end of the fence, his footprints them disapear, there is only one explanation for the missin gfootprints and that is that he had jumped off.
Location shots
Here are a few Location Shots we took when we went filming on 2nd March 2010.
This is a shot of the view from the top of the car park. We have taken a photo of this because it demonstrates the height of the rooftop, and emphasises the location-a busy industrial area. The fact that the Urbis building is in the distance shows it is in central Manchester.
This is a shot of the door at the entrance of the stairs. The car park in the background with the skyline shows the height of the building, and also the solidarity of the location, as there are no cars. This is ideal for our location as it reflects the character-he is all alone mentally, and physically, on the rooftop.
This shot shows the height of the building, and also the fact it is in a busy area. The fact there are tram lines, cars and pedestrians show it is a commonly used public area, and this is ideal for our location as an area like this would create a lot of panic and drama when the character jumped from the railings. This shows the character is not thinking straight, and wants to be noticed as he is willing to cause disruption and chaos with his death.
This is another angled shot that emphasises the surrounding area and location of the car park we are using for our film.
The tram, traffic and pedestrians in this shot emphasises the busy area again, as it is constantly in use by all different types of transport.
This shot of the car park in the foreground and big wheel in the background shows the location of the car park, and the big wheel will be good to use in an establishing shot. If it is sped up for a few moments in a jumpy fashion it will reflect the way the character is thinking and feeling-jumpy and irregular.
Thursday, 25 February 2010
Day 1 (grave scene)
Today we started filming for our main task; here are some of the location and behind the scenes shots we took.
We filmed in a small graveyard in Chorlton. The weather was not ideal as it was raining, however we managed to keep the camera dry with an umbrella.
We had to deal with rain on our day of filming. Which was not really a problem as we were filming a 'flashback' scene and the weather does not have to be the same from the rest of the scenes as it is supposted to have happened at a different date from the rest of the scenes. To stop the camera getting destroyed in the rain we put up a umberella over the camera and tripod.
Here is the camera crew. from left to right; Beth (runner), Rachel (director), and Roisin (cameraperson). As you can see it was raining and the camer ais being protected with the use of the umberella.
again here is another photograph of the camera crew, at this point we were just about to start filming our very first shot ever.
Here is a costume shot of the main character (Stefan). We took this photograph so we can make sure the continuity of the scenes will be perfect, because we do not want him to be wearing different clothes in other scenes and this will make the continuity editing bad and create a sense of unrealism to the shots.
Here is a behind the scenes shot from the opposite end of the camera. In this shot the actor and camera crew were captured. This photograph shows the location of the scenes, which was a local graveyard in Chorlton.
Here is another behind the scenes shotbut this time it is from a diffenent angle. The shot that was being captured here was a over the shoulder shot of the main characters right shoulder, focusing on the writin gon the graveyard which is supposed to be one of the characters close relatives.
Here is another behind the scenes photographs, here the camera crew are about the start to film and are getting everything ready. The actor (main character) is getting ready in place beside the gravestone and the camera person is about to press record on the camera.
This is the gravestone that appeared in all our shots. It Belonged to a woman called "Grace Helen". We were unsure about weathe rto use this gave stone or not as it is very old but them we desided we would use it as the graestone belonged to a relative of the main characters and theis relative did not have to be alive the same time he was.
This is the archway that appears in the openinng scene of the film. It leads into the graveyard and the main character walks through it.
This is a photograph of the Bell tower ontop of archway. This bell tower rings every hour and looks very effective so we desided to use this in one of our shots .
Filming went well today and we got all the shots we needed plus extra shots just in case we need to extened parts of the scenes or we had the incorrect amount of shots to work with, at this point in filming we are very confindent that we have everything we need so far.
Thursday, 11 February 2010
Treatment
Here is a treatment for the main task...
For our opening scene we have decided to come up with the idea of a flashback sequence and throughout the scene a letter is read out, written by the main character. The character, who is living in a deep depression, is on the verge of committing suicide. This opening sequence follows the journey of a character through an urban location to the point where he takes his own life by jumping off the top of a high building. An ideal location for our filming includes the CSI building and possibly the arndale car park. The 2-3 flashbacks would include things that lead him to becoming depressed, for example relationship troubles, death of a family member etc. We shall add just enough detail, as it is an opening scene, for the audience to gain an understanding but still have unanswered questions-who is the character? Who are the characters involved in the flashbacks? How does it all work out?. The scene ends with the character jumping at the same time the suicide note is finished (a voice over by the main character). Things in this note would lead to a series of events which would carry on the film.
For our opening scene we have decided to come up with the idea of a flashback sequence and throughout the scene a letter is read out, written by the main character. The character, who is living in a deep depression, is on the verge of committing suicide. This opening sequence follows the journey of a character through an urban location to the point where he takes his own life by jumping off the top of a high building. An ideal location for our filming includes the CSI building and possibly the arndale car park. The 2-3 flashbacks would include things that lead him to becoming depressed, for example relationship troubles, death of a family member etc. We shall add just enough detail, as it is an opening scene, for the audience to gain an understanding but still have unanswered questions-who is the character? Who are the characters involved in the flashbacks? How does it all work out?. The scene ends with the character jumping at the same time the suicide note is finished (a voice over by the main character). Things in this note would lead to a series of events which would carry on the film.
Shot List
We have 27 shots altogether in the film, they consist of.
1) Long panning shot - following the main character walking to a grave. We used this as an establishing shot so that the viewer understands the setting and that the scene is a flash back.
2) Mid long shot - Main character reaching the grave. We also used this as an establishing shot.
3) Close up - Of gravestone. The purpose of this is to add detail and show that the character is focusing on the gravestone.
4) High angle shot/Bird eye view - Looking straight down the stairs.
5) Mid-long shot - Main character walking up the stairs away from the camera.
6) Mid long shot- character walking up stairs towards the camera
7) Long shot - character entering rooftop area. The long shot was used to create a sense of lonliness.
8) Sequence of jump cuts of character walking across to the point where he stops.
9) Over the shoulder shot - character opening the letter
10) Jump cut to letter unfolding.
11) Close up of letter.
12) Close up of character (Jacks) face
13) Close up of letter and character holding the bracelet
14) Long shot panning down into characters reflection from the body
15) Close up of character taking the bracelet out of his pocket
16) Close up of bracelet dropping into puddle
17) Close up going to long shot - character walking away from the camera
18) mid long shot character comes into frame and stops at rail
19) Birds eye view shot of the ground below
20) Long shot of character stepping onto rail and then up to low angle of the sky
21) Close up of match being lit
22) Close up of characters face with match
23) Mid long shot of character dropping the match into the fire, the fire then flares up.
24) POV of character putting the letter into the fire
25) Low angle shot of character looking into the fire
26) Close up low angle shot of characters face
27) Low angle long shot looking up to the character.
1) Long panning shot - following the main character walking to a grave. We used this as an establishing shot so that the viewer understands the setting and that the scene is a flash back.
2) Mid long shot - Main character reaching the grave. We also used this as an establishing shot.
3) Close up - Of gravestone. The purpose of this is to add detail and show that the character is focusing on the gravestone.
4) High angle shot/Bird eye view - Looking straight down the stairs.
5) Mid-long shot - Main character walking up the stairs away from the camera.
6) Mid long shot- character walking up stairs towards the camera
7) Long shot - character entering rooftop area. The long shot was used to create a sense of lonliness.
8) Sequence of jump cuts of character walking across to the point where he stops.
9) Over the shoulder shot - character opening the letter
10) Jump cut to letter unfolding.
11) Close up of letter.
12) Close up of character (Jacks) face
13) Close up of letter and character holding the bracelet
14) Long shot panning down into characters reflection from the body
15) Close up of character taking the bracelet out of his pocket
16) Close up of bracelet dropping into puddle
17) Close up going to long shot - character walking away from the camera
18) mid long shot character comes into frame and stops at rail
19) Birds eye view shot of the ground below
20) Long shot of character stepping onto rail and then up to low angle of the sky
21) Close up of match being lit
22) Close up of characters face with match
23) Mid long shot of character dropping the match into the fire, the fire then flares up.
24) POV of character putting the letter into the fire
25) Low angle shot of character looking into the fire
26) Close up low angle shot of characters face
27) Low angle long shot looking up to the character.
Analysis of films with same genre...
The genres for our project are tragic love story/drama/romance, we analysied a few different openings to films that were of these genres,
Kidulthood: (Drama)
We have carefully analysed the 2 minute opening to the film “Kidulthood”, the opening scene includes approximately 33 shots, they consist of close-ups, 2 shots, whip pans and a jump cut which is unusual in film as it isn’t used a lot. The introduction told two different stories, that of students in the playground and one of a student using a drill in a workshop, little information was given away to cause the audience to ask questions, the lighting was dark and murkier, possibly representing darkness and negativity.
It used non diagetic sound, this was pacy and gave the opening scene great interest and suspense. The titles for the film were shown at the beginning of the film before anything is shown. Also, the continuity editing of the opening scene was very impressive, it was hard to notice when the shots change and this is necessary when creating a film, even though the continuity editing was very smooth, it was interrupted by the use of the jump cut to add confusion. The costume in the opening scene consisted of school uniform, the character wore there shirts out and ties loose giving them a rough and scruffy look indicating the area they live in is lower class in the south.
The notebook: (Drama/Romance)
The first 30 seconds of the film ‘The Notebook’ shows titles, it starts off with the ‘New Line Cinema’ logo and then moves onto the production company. The first actually shot is at 0.31 seconds and is a establishing shot of the location, which is a river with either the sun setting or rising, there was a orange filter used in this shot which could represent warmth and comfort which could lead on to the rest of the plot. In this shot there are titles being show in the bottom left hand corner.
The next shot is a long shot of the same location with the same colour filter, only it has zoomed in considerably on the sun and underneath the sun there is someone sat in a rowing boat, they are place directly underneath the sun and you can see a silhouette of them. This was probably a choice made by the director so you cannot see the person’s identity and it makes you want to carry on watching the film to find out who the person is. It captures the audience’s attention. In the shot this is when you first see the title of the film and it shows up in the bottom left hand corner in the same font and size as the other titles.
When the shot changes again, it zooms in again but this time onto the person, who is sat in the boa, like the previous shots there is an orange filter to this shot and you still cannot see the character as they are still silhouetted by the sun. This was an ELS of the character on the boat. The camera is slowly following behind the boat and this gives the audience a sense of peacefulness to the scene. The transition to the next show was a fade to black as this is a simple transition yet it’s very effective.
The next shot is another location shot and again shows an overview of the environment, it is very similar to the first shot shown, only this time there is no sunrise/set. You can see the character in the boat in the distance, therefore this is an ELS of the character and again the character has a siluhette by the orange filter used. The next clip is a long shot long shot of the character in the boat, and you can see the reflection of the boat and character in the river below them. The camera is slowly moving in on the character and they are rowing backwards on the boat, throughout the clip more titles are being shown only this time they are in the bottom right hand corner instead. The next clip slowly fades to black without the viewer really noticing it, which demonstrates that the clip had good continuity editing.
Again the next shot is another location shot and just shows the river from a different angle than before, it also contains more titles, and this time they moved back to the left of the screen. The orange filter is still being used. The next shot contained no transition, it was another ELS of the character in the boat from the distance, and in the foreground you saw overgrown grass. Therefore this shot used the rule of thirds as it was split into three sections, the first section was in the foreground of the overgrown grass, the second section was in the middle of the character in a boat and the third section was at the top of the sky, the sky in this shot was very dark and this was due to the orange filter that was being used. Another fade to black transition was used in the next shot; this shot contained the birds flying from the right hand side of the screen to the left. This shot was much darker than the previous shots as the orange filter was starting to disappear and was being replaced by a darker filter.
The music throughout the opening scene was played with a piano; it was very peaceful, relaxing and therapeutic. This particular piece of music was written by Frederic Chopin and was performed by Robert Thies. The piece of music was called “Prelude for piano, Op.28. No4”. There was no voiceover used or no diagetic sound either. The opening 2 minutes consisted of only 8 different shots.
Thursday, 4 February 2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)