12/3/09-Filming

We arranged a meeting the day before filming just to record down everything we needed, where we were going and how to get there just to ensure that we had remembered everything we needed to do.

here are some of the notes we took at the meeting:

Before filming we had to pre-booked a Sony Mini DV camera, microphone and an amount of cables for viewing including a HD lead and AV leads, so that we could obtain the required shots.In order to film this scene we had to go off site in order to achieve the ‘At home’ feel. For this we went to my house to film. We started by shooting the scene in which we were looking through the window , on to the girls,’Ruby’ (kim) and ‘Emily’ (Rosie) , who would be playing on the computer. At first this seemed challenging as we were only able to see the reflection of the camera in the window , rather than the two girls. In addition we had to position the camera in such a way that we would be able to see part of the window payne to imply the idea of being trapped. To overcome this we blocked out the light by placing a cover over the camera and we took time to position the camera correctly, by doing this we were able to film into the house and get a clear shot of the two girls.

Once completing this shot we then had to go inside the house and film the conversation between the two girls , and the conversation over facebook between ‘Ruby’ and ‘Danny’. We began by filming just Rosie ( Emily) in a medium close up shot , whilst she was conversing with kim (Ruby) , and then filming just Kim , and finally we included both of them in a shot , again using a medium close up shot. We used this method of filming so that when it came to editing we could have a range of shots to use to get the best possible outcome for our film. We took several attempts at each of these shots to get the correct timing , conversation and sound , after finishing these set of shots we then went on to film an over the shoulder shot of ‘Ruby’ ad ‘Emily’ at the computer , in which we made them repeat the whole conversation , again to get a range of shots. In addition we also filmed an extreme close up of the facebook conversation between ‘Ruby’ and ‘Danny’ , also for the purposes of editing. As our vision was to have lots of quick cuts to create tension within the scene, although it is only the opening sequence to a film we wanted to give the impression , that its the type of film that could continue with an unfolding plot.

Pictures of the filming Process :

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Once having filmed we had a look over the footage , and decided that we were unhappy with what we had filmed , this was because we didn’t feel that it was gripping enough. We decided that with editing we could try and overcome this problem, However the types of shots we were using were not of that typical to the conventions of the thriller type film. Such as the movie we looked at when researching ‘Momentum’ , they had use close ups and pointt of view shots to confuse the audience and create enigma code. Looking at this we decided to re-draw the storyboard and make use of more close up and point of view shots . After reviewing the new storyboard we were much more pleased with the shots , however it did require a lot more outside shots this time , so the weather was a concern when creating the new storyboard. However we decided we could use both sun or rain to our advantage. The sun would create juxtaposition against the sinister tone of the film we are creating , as it would appear that everything is okay. However the rain would go in unison with the theme of the film. Although saying this we also understood that if the rain was too severe we would have to stop filming , and start another day.

26/3/09

Today we began filming in accordance with the new storyboard and script we had created. We also had to sign new location and personal release forms as we used another character within the script, James Clothier, to play the predator. This job , however , was left up to Kim as she is production manager. She also had to create another risk assessment form in order to identify possible risks within filming , such as being near water , as the location we were filming at is by a canal , and such risks as that.

Here are the personal and location realease forms

Location relase form

personal release forms

Call sheet

Here are the new storyboards we created , we thought that these where a big improvement on the previous ones, not only was it a lot longer so at least this time it would last around 2 minutes, but it also included more opportunities to create tension. Furthermore we could experiment more with editing and music.

Storyboard 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At 10.45 Kim went to the library to collect the cameras and then met myself, James , and the rest of the group in the canteen. We then proceeded to the bus station to catch the 524 to Hertford , the location of the film.

Once arriving at location Kim , Rosie and James got changed into character , whilst myself and Elliott set up the camera and tripod , we also decided what scenes we wanted to shoot first and we thought that the most sensible, in which the predator is placing his camera into his bag , and shutting down the computer. We decided the best place to film this was the bedroom as it was dark and would create a sinister atmosphere. Elliott filmed the first shot, this was a POV shot of ‘Danny’ looking at Ruby’s facebook profile , then shutting down the computer. We then went onto film a close-up shot of ‘Danny’ putting the camera in his bag. We filmed this a few times just to make sure everything was done at the right pace, in order to ensure that the shot was quite slow. The reason we wanted this was because it would create a creepy and devious atmosphere. We also wanted to take several shots of the scene to ensure that that the lighting and camera quality was up to a good standard.

After this we decided to go outside and shoot the scene in which ‘Ruby’ and ‘Emily walk across the bridge into the house. We shot this from several point of views. From the point of view of ‘Danny’, ‘Ruby and ‘Emily’ and we also did several over the shoulder shots , which had not been planned on the storyboard , just for the purposes of editing , in order to have more options when wanted to create tension.

There were some problems when trying to film these shots because it was difficult to for Kim and Rosie to know when to go because the distance between them and Elliott and Myself was quite far. To over come this i stayed on the phone to Kim and told her when we had began filming and when she and Rosie should start walking, this was a good idea as it still fitted in with idea of the film, involving another aspect of new technology within it. In addition the weather also proved to be a problem , although we had said a little bit of rain would add to the style of film , it rained quite heavily some points during the day , due to this we had to stop filming and wait until the rain had died down in order to go back out and film again. However apart from these few spots of heavy rain , the weather was quite good as it was not too sunny and quite overcast , therefore no happy connotations could be created.

Finally we filmed the last scene , where ‘Ruby’ is at the computer on facebook , as well as typing the words ‘instant murder’. This scene did not take long as it was a very short scene. Despite this we did have to take a couple of shots to get the spelling and pace of writing ‘ instant murder’ out.

Overall i believe that this filming session was a vast improvement of the previous one. This was because this time round we were more motivated and had a more structured day with a better story board. Furthermore the shots we obtained would allow us to do a lot of interesting things in editing.

 

 

 

 

Analysing Certain Shots:

This is the establishing shot in the movie. A close up of the camera. We wanted to imply the theme of technology withing the movie as well as suggesting that the camera will play a part within the movie, almost foreshadowing.Directly proceeding this shot is ‘Danny’ picking up the camera in a slow sinister way which also adds to the effect. Furthermore we decided to keep the Ironing board in the background , and have a normal bedroom setting. To imply that he is a normal man , living his everyday life , however this is juxtaposed with the dark secret he is harbouring

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This shot is a medium close up of James (Danny). We did this to establish who’s point of view the audience will be looking through. It also identifies what he is doing , taking pictures , of which we don’t acutally know as of yet. The shot also includes the camera that was featured in the previous scene.Therefore reinforcing that the idea of the camera and being watched will be a continous and re-occuring theme throughout the movie. In addition the setting here plays a key part, before we see the two girls in the next shot , it may appear that ‘Danny’ is simply and innocenly taking pictures of the river and the rest of the scenery, to the audience. However to the characters in the film it seems that he is taking pictures of the scenery making use of dramatic irony.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a long shot of the two girls walking home from school. We thought this was a good shot as mis-en-scene added extra connotations to the scene. We though that the sun shining on the two girls in the picturesque would give happy connotations and the impression that everything is ok , however this is then juxtaposed with the rain , which suggests dark meanings. Furthermore the fact the the girls are walking behind bars , can either suggest that they are being kept safe , or that they are trapped, which can be left to interpretation.

 

 

 

 In this shot the light is slightly blocked out by the trees , which creates a more dark atmosphere. Also the fact that the trees have no leaves suggests death and also reinforces the dark idea. We also decided to include the caution sign in the shot to imply danger.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We decided to film this over the shoulder shot to show what he is looking at. It also makes him look very big powerful and dommineering , in comparison to the two girls who appear very small and ignorant.

 

 

 

 

 

5/3/09 – Presenting our ideas to the class

Although we had decided on our main idea , we still had to present all the ideas we had thought of to the class. Before we presented we added the finishing touches to the presentation that we had been working on for a few weeks , to ensure that we had all the information nesseccery. Seeing as the first online predator video we had researched was no longer avaliable on youtube , we could not put that into our presentation to show to the class . To overcome this we looked for a new video and found an even better , more realistic portrayal of the online predators.

Here are the links to the video we found :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-SPU68W57g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qm5ooZqPWQk&feature=related

Once we had finished this and added these links into the presentation we were ready to show it to the class.

When presenting to the class we suggested our ideas and gave them a questionnaire to fill in once we had completed our presentation.We found out that they thought the ideas for films such as ‘I.M’ and ‘Mind Games’ where more realistic , however they thought the the idea of ‘When Trolleys go bad’ seemed more entertaining. Although the group had already dismissed the idea before presenting as we knew it would be unachievable. Furthermore no one really mentioned the the ‘Drugs Situation’ so we knew we could totally dismiss that idea. 

The final question asked the group what film we should make and the results were:

When trolleys go bad :5

Drugs situation: 0

Mind Games:1

I.M: 6

Although we had already decided on our idea before presenting , in order to save time, we did find this process helpful as we found the idea we had chosen to use was the most popular , therefore it gave us more confidence in our idea. Furthermore the class suggested possible criticisms for our chosen idea , which gave us the opportunity to make improvements to our idea.

26/9/09 Audition process

Before the auditions we had to create slips for the auditionees to fill out , that would tell us when they are available , what position they are auditioning for and how to contact them if we wanted to use them in our film.

Here are the slips we created:

After we had created these we then went on to collect the cameras needed in order to film the auditions. When we arrived we found that the camera technician was not there , and therefore we were unable to collect the cameras. This meant that we could not continue with our auditions at the time we had hoped. Once we had found the camera technician the times we had designated for the audition were over , therefore we could not film the auditions today. We contemplated setting another date for the audition , however this meant re designing the audition posters to change the date, putting them up around, and leaving them up for another two weeks for them to gain enough publicity. After discussing these issues with the team we decided not to rehold the auditions, but to use the camera to film my self and the other female team members auditioning, this way it meant that we would have held at-least some sort of audition process . With Kim being production manager she found a place for us to hold our audition , whilst i set up the camera. I then filmed Kim and Rosie auditioning , whilst Elliott kept an eye on sound, however we realised that camera and sound quality were not as important as we were only filming the auditions. Elliott then took over my role as director whilst i was auditioning with Kim and Rosie .

We found that using members of our own team meant that we would have actors we could rely on , and we could also film outside of college hours.

12/2/09- creating audition posters and sorting out roles

Whilst Rosie and Elliot went on to create a questionnaire,in which we would give to our class mates after showing them our presentation. Myself and Kim went on to create audition posters. We knew that we wanted to base the posters around the subject of the film, which was an cyber/online theme. As well as the posters relating to the subject of the film , we also knew using a social networking site , such as facebook would attract the attention of the students in the college as it popular site to use among students .In order to do this we decided to take print screens of the audition information in comment boxes on the popular social networking site Facebook, . Our initial poster didn’t turn out so well because the quality was not so good and the writing was difficult to see.

Here is a picture of our initial poster:

Our original Poster

As you can see the quality is quite grainy and the writing is impossible to read.

Seeing this we knew we had to overcome this problem somehow , we did this buy print screening a plain comment box , and then added the information in later on Photoshop. With this we could make the writing bigger in order to be seen easily, and we also thought we could further the ‘online/computer’ style by using a typewriter style font.

This is our Final Poster

Audition Poster

Questionniare

Here is a copy of the questionnaire Elliott and Rosie created created for our peers to answer.

After this we then posted the posters around the college , in the hope of a good response.

We then knew we had to decide on the roles and responsibilities with in the group. We decided upon these roles

Production Manager: Kim

This would mean that Kim is in charge of organising auditions, equipment , shoots, costumes and in charge of the film as a whole.

Editing Director/Cameraman:Elliott

This would mean that i have to make sure that all scenes are shot in the intended way , mis-en-scene is taken into account , actors take specific directions and desired camera angles are adheared to.

Editing and Continuity manager: Rosie

This would mean that Rosie has to edit the final film as well as make sure that no continuity errors are made. For example she must make sure that throughout the scene the girl is wearing a tie, rather than wearing a tie in the first half of the scene and not wearing one in the second half of the scene.

Sound Manager: Christina

This would mean that Elliott is also in charge of Editing as he was in the first film. He is also in charge of making sure that sound is high quality , unlike the first film we created , in which it was quite difficult to hear one of the main characters.

29/1/09-Location, script and story boards

Now that we had created the presentation we knew we could get in to the motion of creating storyboards, characters and scripts. We held a meeting within the group to discuss what location we were going to use , what types of shots we needed for the film and what music we wanted, we also created a script and thought of characterisations for our characters. , after completing this we created.

Location: We decided that we could use my house to film the scene where the two girls are chatting on the computer, this is because we could use the style of window to our advantage to give the impression that they are trapped , so this location was the best suggestion as opposed to using one of the computer rooms within the college. We then thought that we could use the local park, of which Rosie and Elliott looked at too see how suitble it was for the scene, that involves the girl running away through a foresty type setting in the dark.

Here a some pictures of the swing and the park we plan to use in our film:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are some pictures of  the house setting:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Characterisation:Girl one: Ruby Partridge

Either wears a white top to show innocence or a school uniform to also suggest the same meaning.

She would be a typical girly teenager interested in clothes , make-up and boys

Girl two: Emily

Has the same characteristics as Ruby as they are of similsr personalities.

The predator: Danny Jefferies

He will pretened to be 18 years , when he is actually 30/40 years of age.

On his profile there would be a picture of him posing in the mirror , which are typical profile photos found on social networking sites nower days.

Scenes/ Shots needed:

Shot 1: Pan up looking into the window of the room through blinds. With sombre, dark music playing.

We decided to have the shot looking through the blinds with sombre music , to create an air of mystery and suspision and the illusion the the girls are being watched. This also reinforces the idea that it will not be a lighthearted film.

Shot 2: Edit through the blinds into the actually room. Sombre music fades out and a non copyrighted version of The Kooks song ‘naive’ will be playing.

We though that it would be a good idea to play the song ‘naive’ to demonstrate the naivity of the two girls. Therefore reflecting the situation that the two girls are in

Shot 3: Girl 1 ( Ruby) looks at the screen and calls her friend ( Emily) over

Shot 4: Camera looks at the screen revealing the young male’s ( Danny Jefferies) profile.

Shot 5: Flash foward to a shot of a creaky swing in the middle of the dark park.

We thought that this shot would illustrate the girls vulnerability and demonstrate how they are still infact children.

Shot 6: It would then flash back to the screen of Ruby typing ‘c u wednesday’ over the social networking site.

Shot 7: Flash foward to the girl running , breathing heavily and crying for only a few seconds

Shot 8: It would then flash back to the girls in their room saying ‘ i can’t beleive your going to meet up with him , giggling and laughing.

Shot 9: This will then flash foward to Ruby to running again with two sets of footsteps , a scream will be heard and the title ‘instant messenger/Instant murder’ Appears on the screen.

We thought this sequence would be effective as the flashbacks create enigma code and an exciting begining to the film, also the shots we’ve chose will give the atmosphere of the girls being watched.

 

Story Boards

Storyboard 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Script :

[turns to emily , calling her over with her hand.]

Ruby : Oh my god Ems , come and look at this , im on Danny’s profile , and he’s uploaded new pics!

[Big smile travels across her face]

[Shocked but happy facial expression ]

Emily: Wow , ruby , your so lucky , he is gorgeous!!

Ruby: Ahh , he is talking to me again , i think he really likes me !

[Excited tone in voice]

[camera looks at computer screen ' do you want to meet up?]

Ruby: Do you think i should ?

Emily: Yeah, defo , you have to meet up with him!

This is our original written script

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We decided to use colloquilisms such ‘defo’ and ‘yeah’ because we though this type of language was common to the average , every day teenager , this is in order to demonstrates the equality between the two girls , it also shows that they are of the same peer groups. Furthermore we shortened the name ‘Emily’ down to ‘Ems’ to show the closness between the girls and also how comfortable they are with eachother.

 

After this we then went on to create the facebook pages of Danny and Ruby Here are some print screens of their profiles:

print screen of Danny's profile

 

 

15/1/09 – Ideas, Targets and research

When introduced to the main task brief the group and i had already had an idea of what type of film we wanted to create. The assignment was to create the titles and the opening scene to a film that had to last a maximum of two minutes . After the trouble with the extras we had experianced with our preliminary task , we decided that we wanted to create a film with a minimal amount of actors, furthermore we also knew that we wanted to create a film within a different genre to comedy, so that we could explore and express our creative ideas using the conventions of another genre , such as horror or thriller. Furthermore we knew we wanted to work a lot faster in this task , this meant immeadiatley coming up with ideas and deciding on a final one.

Although we had a rough idea of the type of film we wanted , we had to sit down and discuss our ideas in more detail and depth. We came up with four main ideas:

1) ‘When trolleys go bad’: This film would have been about trolleys that turn violent and attack local citizens. We thought this idea would bring in the genre of horror however there would be a comical aspect to this, furthermore we would not have to use many actors. However although there we some good points to make this film , it would have required us to talk to a supermarket to gain permission to use their trolleys. As a result we decided against this idea as it was illogical and difficult to take to seriously.

2) ‘Drugs Situation’ : This idea would have involved a party where a lot of drug taking occurs , due to this someone has overdosed and unfortunetley dies. As suspiscion around the nature of his death arises and police investigation follows , where all is not as it seems.

We also dismissed this idea as it would have required an ambulance , a house setting and ultimately lots of extras, which as i have said previously we did not want to use.

3) ‘Mind Games‘: This idea would have involved the opening scene taking place in a dark room with a mentally ill person who is having crazed fits , we would have then used a jump cut to take us to an ordinary day. We thought this idea would be an interesting concept and allow us to take advantage by using lots of enigma code.

4) ‘I.M’: This name would stand for instant messenger as well as instant murder. This idea involves the serious idea of online predators. We decided that we would pan upwards to look through the window of a girl and her friend giggling over the attractive male that they are speaking to online to give the idea that she is being watch. We would then use a jump cut to move into the girls room , where we would see the instant messaging conversation taking place with the words ‘ would you like to meet up?’ on the screen. We would then flash forward in time where the girl is being chased through the dark streets of her town. We would then flash back to her chatting on the computer, as the conversation progresses. We believed that this would show the audience what might happen, and also leave them slightly confused therefore using enigma code

Between ‘I.M’ and ‘Mind Games’ we had a tough decision with what to choose as they both seemed like interesting concepts to explore, as we had the oppourtunity to confuse the audience and create a gripping film. After some disscussion we decided to choose ‘I.M’ as we had a more in depth idea of the story line , the camera angles, and the titles we wanted to use. Furthermore we would be addressing and everyday situation that internet users could probably relate to.  For this type of movie we suggested that our target audience should be 15+ this is becuase would contain violence , murder and strong language , considering the horrer/ thriller type of genre. We also thought that it would be more interesting to those of a higher age as they would understand the concept of the film. Also we decided on the 15+ target audience based the the guidelines given by the BBFC for 15+ films, as we thought , if we were to continue making the film there would be violence and strong language. 

 

‘15′ – Suitable only for 15 years and over

No-one younger than 15 may see a ‘15’ film in a cinema. 

Theme

No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is appropriate to 15 year olds.

Language

There may be frequent use of strong language . But the strongest terms will be acceptable only where justified by the context. Continued aggressive use of the strongest language is unlikely to be acceptable.

Nudity

Nudity may be allowed in a sexual context but without strong detail. There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context.

Sex

Sexual activity may be portrayed but without strong detail. There may be strong verbal references to sexual behaviour.

Violence

Violence may be strong but may not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. Scenes of sexual violence must be discreet and brief.

Imitable techniques

Dangerous techniques (eg combat, hanging, suicide and self-harming) should not dwell on imitable detail. Easily accessible weapons should not be glamorised.

Horror

Strong threat and menace are permitted. The strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable.

Drugs

Drug taking may be shown but the film as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse.

(http://www.bbfc.co.uk/classification/c_15.php) 

Furthermore we released other thrillers like ‘The departed’ and ‘The sentinal’ are also rated 15 as they contain Violence and swearing.

 

The departed , another 15 rated film

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once coming up with our idea we also had to decide on our smart targets , which are: 

The SMART targets we came up with were as follows; 

S- come up with ideas and develop these ideas further

M- The goal will be achieved when we have come up with all our ideas 

A-This is when everyone has agreed upon an idea

R- It is realistic because we will easliy be able to come up with ideas that conform to the brief

T-These ideas will be created in the initial weeks of the task.

 

S-Research our idea and the opening titles of film

M-This will be when we had looked at opening scenes and titles of films , and also researched the topic of online predators.

A- This will be achieved when everyone has looked up these topics , and put evidence of research into their blogs.

R-This is needed in order to fulfill the assignment brief

T-This will only take one day 

 

S- Create a Presentation to show to the class

M- The goal will be achieved when the presentation has been created

A-When our peers have given us feedback on the ideas we have come up with and the one we have chosen.

R-Its an achievable task

T- We estimate that it should take one lesson to create the presentation and one lesson to show it to the class

 

S- Create a story board, Script and find actors 

M- The goal will be achieved when the script has been written, the story board as been drawn , and actors have been recruited.

A-When everyone in the group has come to a unanomous decision on the scenes chosen and actors picked.

R-Its an achievable task

T- We estimate that it should take one week to complete this.

 

S-Start and finish the filming process

M-This will be achieved when we have finish filming all the scenes we need.

A-This will be when all group members are happy with what has been filmed

R-This is needed in order to fulfill the assignment brief

T-We estimate that it may take three to four weeks to film

 

S-Edit the film 

M-This will be achieved when the film has been produced

A-This will be when the group is happy with the scene selections and edits that have ben made.

R-When we get the desired outcome

T-We estimate that this will take three weeks

 

After deciding on one solid idea we had to carry out some research into what the opening scenes and titles of a film look like. To do this we went on to Youtube and looked at the opening scene of ‘Memento’. This was one of the only opening scene’s we found , as those of more interesting films were more difficult to find.

 

 

Print screen of production company

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Print screen of directors name

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Print Screen of the opening scene and the title of the film

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 When looking at the opening scene of ‘Memento’ i realised that in the titles we would have to include the names of a production company , the directors name , actors name as well as the title of our film which in our case would be ‘I.M’. The opening sequence also sets the scene for the rest of the movie and acts as an intirguing starter for the audience , with a good use of Enigma Code.

In the scene we found that they used music to introduce the film in order to create an atmosphere and an intirguing scenario within the audiences mind, the picture developing with this music creates engima code and then the film seems to play backwards as the man puts the undeveloped polloroid  back into his pocket and then a shot of blood trickling backwards up a wall.

 

To build on our research further we looked at more youtube videos on the topic online predators, which is the main topic of our film. This was in order to find out how exactly they formed a relationship with the child and what type of conversation the use to persuade them into meeting. We  wanted to know  what type of  camera angles they used to portray this type of secret and sinister theme. We saw that the predator was lacking in identiy and usually filmed from the side to create an air of mystery, furthermore the victim was a sterotypical female who is portrayed as young and naive . We also did this so that we could learn what type of conversation and behaviour we would need to construct and portray in our film.

This is the video we used to look at the portrayal of online predators

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=5YayaMeiN-A

After finishing this research we knew that we could go on to create a presentation of all the ideas that we had come up with , although we had already decided on what idea we wanted to choose , we still thought it would be a good idea to get feedback from our peers and see what they thought about our ideas , and most importantly the idea we had chosen. This way we could also explain our main reasons for choosing the type of genre we wanted to explore , as well as our reasons for having minimal extras and so on.

Here is the presentation we created:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After this we knew that we could go on to develop our idea in terms of creating a storyboard  writing a script, and creating our characters , thinking about names , appearance and outfit colours.

Full Film

You will find our film, Desperate Measures at this link

http://blip.tv/file/1648031/

Evaluation

When we were first introduced to our coursework, in September we were given the main specifications for the coursework and the briefs of which we could choose from. The choice was between two assignment briefs, one was to create a college magazine, which had to include a photograph of a student in medium close-up, as mock up of a contents page and an appropriately laid-out text and a masthead. The other was a Continuity task which involved filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, a exchanging a couple of line of dialogue. 

I initially was in two minds about what brief to choose as they both posed their individual advantages and disadvantages.         The magazine brief appeared to be more difficult as it involved taking our own photos for both the front cover and the contents page of the magazine, illustrating advanced skills on Photoshop (a programme of which I did not feel very confident using) and finally it was an individual effort which meant that there was a lot of work involved for just one person. However comparing the magazine brief to the film brief, it did appear easier, in terms of not having to recruit actors or find a setting etc. On the other hand the film assignment did seem more appealing as it gave me the chance to be more creative with ideas that could conform to the brief, it also allowed gave me the chance to share my ideas within a group (as the task would have been too much for one person to complete). It was this that then led me to choose the film assignment.

In response to this I then had to find three other members of the media class that were too, interested in the film option, these were; Kimberly Grant, Elliot Bass and Rosie Golder. Once the group had been formed we looked at the brief in closer detail, it stated that we would have to film and edit a character opening a door and crossing a room then sitting down and exchanging dialogue with another character. Simultaneously we would have to ensure that the film conformed to continuity rules. For example this means having the characters wearing the same clothes within a scene, same appearances such as make-up and hair, the same props and finally the same extras. Furthermore we would also have to make sure that we obeyed the 180-degree rule, this meant only filming on one side of the characters to allow the audience to easily comprehend what is happening.

Once we ensured that we all fully understood the concepts of continuity and the 180-degree rule. We decided to think of different ideas we could fit around the brief. As explained in production log one I came up with ideas such as a speed dating event, and affair situation, a drugs situation and a police interrogation. I initially was quite interested in the drugs situation idea, as it would have given us the opportunity to experiment with dark lighting and creative settings, however after some discussion the group decided that the most sensible and viable idea to choose would be the speed dating event.

Once we had collectively decided on an idea we were told we had to create a presentation that we could show to our peers in order to gain feedback on the ideas we had chosen, after listening to the feedback from our classmates the idea was to rethink the film we were going to shoot to see whether it was the best and or most popular option with the class. In the presentation we included three ideas which where the affair situation, the speed dating event and the police interrogation. After giving our presentation many people stated that the affair situation emulated that of a soap story line, which is something we did not wish to recreate, we desired for an original and unique idea. We then showed our peers our ideas for a police interrogation, which we gained little feedback off, however our teacher expressed his interest in this idea as he suggested that we had the chance to develop an interesting and diverse story line here as well as using a range of camera angles. Finally we presented the speed dating idea, it was then explained to us that the speed-dating event was an original idea, we were told that we had the chance to make it comedic which is exactly the thing we aspired to do.  Considering all these aspects we went for the majority vote, which was the speed-dating event, despite the advice given by our teacher. Furthermore the team had originally expressed their desire to use this idea, even before presenting some choices to the class.

Once we finished presenting to the class, we created in detail our ’speed dating’ situation. As we stated in the presentation we wanted to create a comedic situation, with an awkward dynamic between two people. From this we created our story line and main characters. Our idea was to have an upper class lady, to attend a speed-dating event as a last resort and last chance to look for love. However in a typical comedic genre way, things don’t go according to plan. In this scene she has to encounter a sleazy man who’s intentions are not appreciated by Jennifer. 

The Film would start in the toilets where the upper class women nervously prepares herself for the evening, where she applies make-up and straighten her clothes. This is to illustrate her desperation to impress, therefore bringing it back to the idea that this is her last chance. We would then see her enter the restaurant and immediately spot a ‘good-looking’ man, however she is unsuspectedly pushed out of the way by a second women, who then goes on to sit with the ‘good-looking’ man, leaving her with the sleazy man. They then have a conversation about a topic that clearly does not impress the upper class women, as the sleazy man tries to ‘make his move’ by touching her leg, she leaves the table unimpressed and disheartened. 

After creating and finishing our storyline we quickly went on to carry out some research into filming and specifically filming date scenes, in order to do this we looked at dates scenes from films and programmes such as sex in the city and the 40 year old virgin. This way we could gain insight into the types of shots we needed to use and the type of dialogue we would need in order to give our film that humorous aspect.                                                                                                                                                                               After deciding the types of characters we wanted in our film we also researched ways in which we could uniquely characterize and represent them, we did this by researching colour connotations, body language of specific types of people and their meanings. This way we could illustrate and create the type of movie we aspired to create.  The colours we decided to choose and the types of characters can all be referred to in my previous production logs.         

We then decided on names for our characters, we came up with Jennifer for the upper class lady as it suggests connotations of wealth and formality, the name Wayne was suggested to the sleazy man this was because it creates an image of uncertainty as it’s not the most simple of names. Finally we decided on to names for the other male and female within the scene, although they don’t have speaking parts and their names are not mentioned, we thought creating a rounded character would help us when creating the overall image for our film. For the ‘good-looking’ man we came up with the name Brett, as it reminded us of a ‘hunky’ American man that is desired by many females. Then for the second female in the scene, we came up with the name Laura, this implied simplicity and non-specialty. 

 Once we had decided on the colours each character would wear, their personality, name, genre of the film and ultimately the film as a whole, we decided that the audience we wanted to attract were women in their mid to late twenties and above. This was because the main female character (Jennifer) is a woman in her late twenties, this way our target audience could relate her character. Furthermore we felt that the genre of the movie was ‘romantic comedy’ which, I understand to be quite popular with women of that age range.

Whilst furthering the production of our film, we were instructed that we had to receive Photoshop training, this was mainly for those who had chosen the print brief, however the group was told that we would have to create a DVD cover for our film and ultimately we would have to use Photoshop to create this cover. We created some images using the advanced tools on Photoshop, of which can be found on Production log 1. 

As we did not need to use Photoshop as in depth as those who had chosen to do the print brief, we decided to use our time wisely and create the story board for our film and decide on a final script for the film. Whilst Kim and Elliot worked on the storyboard, Rosie and myself created two individual scripts, which we later merged together. 

The storyboard had to include drawing of the desired scene to shoot, what type of shot it were to be (or what camera angles we were to use), sound and dialogue. The storyboard became a crucial part of our filming process as it clearly set out the guidelines to what we needed to follow. I believe it was well drawn up by Kim, as when it came to filming there was no question of what we had to do. When creating the script, we knew it defiantly had to include comedy, to do this we decided the easiest way to do this would be to include a ‘Cheesy’ chat up line. Saying this I went on to the Internet and searched for chat-up lines until I found the most suitable one for the script I wanted to follow. When merging the script with Rosie we found that we had very similar dialogue, and very similar chat-up lines therefore making it very easy for us to create the script we wanted for our film, we decided to give Wayne a ‘Cockney’ accent and Jennifer a Formal English accent, this gave us the opportunity to show the vast difference in class, therefore representing the incompatibility between the two.   We then showed the script we had created to Elliot and Kim, who too expressed their happiness with the script. 

After Completing the storyboard and script we had to visit the camera technician to get trained to use the camera, this was an exciting experience as it meant that we were one step closer to filming. The camera technician taught us how to set up a tripod, mount a camera on to a tripod and ultimately how to use the camera, he also taught us how to use the microphone and play with sound. This tutorial meant that we could go on to film with the knowledge we had gained, however before filming the main production we needed to obtain actors, with this we had to set up auditions and film them. 

To broadcast the auditions for the film, we created two audition posters, so that we could attract and acquire a range of people, we then set them up around the college for two weeks prior to the auditions. The posters stated audition times, where it would be held and the type of film we would be creating. The group and I were quite worried about the amount of people that would come to the auditions as the posters were put up at quite short notice. However to our surprise thirteen people showed up to the auditions, which was quite a lot in our eyes. Rosie and myself set up the camera, as we were most confident in using it, whilst Kim and Elliot watched and judged the auditioned. We gave each audtionee a script to read off and paired them up so that we could see if the ‘awkward’ dynamic that we wanted to portray in our film, would work between the two actors. 

Once the auditions were over we watched over the film and immediately agreed on whom we wanted as Jennifer, Wayne and Laura. However we could not find the right person for Brett, so we decided to ask one of our friends who went on to accept the offer. Furthermore for those who did not get a main part, were offered parts as extras. 

After all the parts had been given out we could go ahead and film. However we needed to notify the Brasserie (the setting of or film) and the actors of when we needed to film and see whether both were available on the days we needed. Once all dates ere sorted we began to film. The first scene we filmed was Jennifer in the toilet, in my opinion this was the easiest scene to shoot, as there were no extras involved so it was easier to consider continuity. The second shot we filmed was the close up of Jennifer’s hand on the door entering the brasserie. Amazingly this was the hardest shot to film, despite thinking that it was going to be the easiest. We had to get the hand the right position on the door and had to make sure that the door shut at the right time in order for editing to purposes, to ensure that the door opened and closed at the same time. Furthermore it was quite difficult to obey the continuity rules, as lighting and sound were different to that of the sound and lighting in the toilet, due to the fact that we had to use a different door than that of the toilet.

We then went onto film the scenes within the brasserie; we decided to film the conversation scene before the entrance into the restaurant due to the unavailability of the actors. This way we could carry on with filming without having any delays. Once all but the entrance shot had been filmed we realized we needed to quickly finish filming in order to get everything finished on time. As we originally stated we wanted Jennifer to enter the restaurant and immediately spot a ‘good-looking’ man, Brett, however this was not possible, due to the unreliability of the actors, so we therefore had to remove this scene from the film. We then overcame this problem by shooting Jennifer’s entrance in to the restaurant with a Point of View shot, from the eyes of Wayne. In my opinion we dealt with this situation quite well as we were able to obtain enough footage to create a viable film. The full extent to which we filmed can be found in Production Log 3.

After having completed filming we had to edit, Elliot was in charge of this as he had completed training in the software we required to edit, final cut pro. Whilst Elliot was editing the film with Kim’s help, Rosie and I created the DVD cover for the film giving it a sophisticated look in connection with the type of film we were creating. We then wrote a blurb for the back of the DVD and to gain opinion on the blurb we asked a women of this age whether she would watch this film, on what the blurb had said and her response was yes it seems quite interesting. We also had to think of a name for the film, this proved quite difficult until Rosie mention the title ‘ desperate measures’. We all thought that this was quite fitting for the film as you wouldn’t expect to see this ‘upper-class’ woman at a speed dating event, therefore implying that she is employing desperate measures in order to find love. Full descriptions of this process can be found in production log 4.

Finally after having completed the DVD cover and the editing of the film, we burnt the film on to disc and printed the DVD cover out. We then needed to gain feedback on our film so we could critically analyse it, to do this we created questionnaire which we handed out to 8 people, we then asked them to watch the film and answer the questions. Many of those we asked said they enjoyed the film and that they did understand the humor of it, however they also noticed the continuity error with the different extras, however as explained in Production log 4, we said that we could use this to our advantage as people change seats within a speed dating event.

Critically looking at the film our group made I would say there are good points to it and parts we could improve on. Firstly I think the main idea of the film was a productive one, the idea of an ‘upper-class’ lady with a ’sleazy-man’ at a speed dating event, we believed that this creates a juxtaposition. I also think that choosing the comedy genre to attach to our film was another good idea, I believe that it sticks to the typical conventions of a comedy, for example not all things go according to plan, there is always one particular line in a scene that makes it comical etc. Our choice of target audience was another good decision, I think its the type of film that would attract those 20/25 +, we wanted to attract a similar audience to that of Sex and the City. Furthermore I think that the DVD cover created also helps to attract this type of audience, such as the elegant pink/red writing, and the Blurb.

Looking at the production I can see what parts of the process and the overall film I would improve if I were to do the task again. To begin with I would create a film that didn’t require as many extras as we needed due to the unreliability or unavailability of actors. When thinking about the actors I would also consider their availability as well as their acting skills. However this has taught me a lesson for the next film we have to create for the main task. The group has decided to create a film that involves fewer extras. 

I would also consider booking equipment earlier and generally speeding up the whole process of the film, as we found ourselves filming and editing very close to the due date of the coursework. For the main task I have learnt that once the group have decided on a main idea we should put up audition posters and book equipment and other such things as soon as possible. 

Furthermore commenting on the actual quality of the film I believe that sound and picture quality could have been improved. Watching the film back the actors voices, mainly Rosy’s sound quite faint, this was probably due to the fact that the Microphone was not held close enough to Rosy therefore resulting in a quiet sound. Also it was mentioned by our classmates that the picture quality was quite fuzzy. For the main task we suggested that we play around with lighting a bit more carefully and use cameras with high quality resolutions.

Ultimately I believe we met the brief with success, furthermore I also think our film was successful as our intentions were achieved, to make our audience laugh, which the film did particularly the cheesy chat up line.                                                    Analysing the film and thinking about what type of institution would be likely to distribute our comedy film, I would say film companies such as Universal studios, Paramount or 2ost century fox, this is because I believe that it create and distributes films with a similar style and genre to ours, such as ‘40 Year Old Virgin’ (Universal Studios) which is one of the films we looked at when doing our research and ‘Bride Wars’ (20th century fox). Film Companies such as MGM would not take on our film as I think they deal with a more old and serious style of film.

Although there were quite a few problems along the way I believe that this was vital in teaching us a lesson about how prepared you need to be to make a film, furthermore I think that it will help improve and influence the decisions that we make for our next film.

Production Log 4

4/12/08

After a final filming session we decided to spilt into two groups; Kim and Elliot were to edit the footage we have obtained and Rosie and myself were to create the DVD cover for our film. 

Before designing the actual DVD cover we had to decide on a name for our film, after several ideas we decided on the name of ‘Desperate Measures’ which is a play on the saying ‘desperate times call for desperate measures’ .When creating the DVD cover we had to research the dimensions of a DVD cover  and the typical conventions you would find on a DVD cover such as the DVD sign , the film rating , the production company etc. When deciding on a colour scheme we all agreed that we should stick to the ‘romantic’ style of the movie and therefore use the colour of red/pink and black. We also chose ’swirly’ writing for the titles to create a fancy and classy look. 

We also had to choose photos for the Cover and had a difficult time deciding on what to choose, as we knew we would not have time to have a proper photoshoot for the cover. However to overcome this problem we decided to print screen some shots for the movie and place them on the cover. Furthermore we chose to have the images in black and white to create a more structred and simple colour scheme. However i had trouble deciding what else to add to the front cover as there was quite alot of space , to over come this i added a Heart brush , although there is still quite a lot of free space i didn’t want to overcrowd it by adding too much.

I then tried to make it as close to a real DVD cover by adding age restrictions , the DVD sign , production company names and a bar code.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

17/12/08

In this session we held a focus group we asked around 8 people from our media class to view are film and write their views on the questionnaire kim had created. The reason we decided to only ask those from our media class to comment on our film is so that we could ask them about the 180 degree rule and continuity as it had already been explained to them, this way it meant that we would avoid confusion with those who do not fully understand the concepts of continuity and the 180 degree rule; Here are the results we recieved;

1

Do you understand the concept of the film? 

Yes

Do you think we chose good actors?

No

What is your opinion of the location we chose?

i think its fitting for the film

Do you think we obeyed the 180 degree rule?

yes

Are there any continuity errors?

Yes with the extras

Do you like the DVD cover?

It’s simple but i think the colours go well with the movie 

What did you like and dislike about the film?

The ‘maths’ quote was funny , however the fade edit when she walks into the room is not needed

What could we do to improve the film?

Have better picture quality

Do you think we met the brief?

yes

What comments can you make about editing ?

It’s well done , apart from the fade i mentioned earlier 

Do you think the script was fitting with the story line ? (Sleazy man and upper class women)

Yes

2

Do you understand the concept of the film? 

yes

Do you think we chose good actors?

yes , they looked good in their costumes

What is your opinion of the location we chose?

Realistic

Do you think we obeyed the 180 degree rule?

Yes you did obey it 

Are there any continuity errors?

Yes with some of the extras

Do you like the DVD cover?

Looks sophisticated

What did you like and dislike about the film?

It’s quite funny , i’m not sure  what i dislike about it 

What could we do to improve the film?

Continuity

Do you think we met the brief?

yes

What comments can you make about editing ?

Good editing , some strong cinematography 

Do you think the script was fitting with the story line ? (Sleazy man and upper class women)

yes and it worked well

3

Do you understand the concept of the film? 

yes

Do you think we chose good actors?

yes but not the extras , they kept looking the camera 

What is your opinion of the location we chose?

good

Do you think we obeyed the 180 degree rule?

yes

Are there any continuity errors?

actors

Do you like the DVD cover?

yes , it’s fancy

What did you like and dislike about the film?

It was colourful

What could we do to improve the film?

Better acting

Do you think we met the brief?

yes

What comments can you make about editing ?

very, very good

Do you think the script was fitting with the story line ? (Sleazy man and upper class women)

 

yes

4

Do you understand the concept of the film? 

yes

Do you think we chose good actors?

yes

What is your opinion of the location we chose?

it was a good choice

Do you think we obeyed the 180 degree rule?

yes

Are there any continuity errors?

yes with the extras

Do you like the DVD cover?

yes , i like the big and bold heading

What did you like and dislike about the film?

I liked the man’s sleaziness 

What could we do to improve the film?

Make sure extras do not stare at the camera

Do you think we met the brief?

yes

What comments can you make about editing ?

The fading effect when she walks in was ‘pro’

Do you think the script was fitting with the story line ? (Sleazy man and upper class women)

yes

5

Do you understand the concept of the film? 

yes

Do you think we chose good actors?

yes

What is your opinion of the location we chose?

It meets the target of the film

Do you think we obeyed the 180 degree rule?

yes

Are there any continuity errors?

not that i noticed 

Do you like the DVD cover?

I like the images and use of colour

What did you like and dislike about the film?

I liked the personality of the characters

What could we do to improve the film?

Make it a bit longer

Do you think we met the brief?

yes

What comments can you make about editing ?

It worked well and looked good 

Do you think the script was fitting with the story line ? (Sleazy man and upper class women)

yes

6

Do you understand the concept of the film? 

yes

Do you think we chose good actors?

yes

What is your opinion of the location we chose?

yes

Do you think we obeyed the 180 degree rule?

yes

Are there any continuity errors?

no

Do you like the DVD cover?

yes i like the colour scheme , and the blurb was well written 

What did you like and dislike about the film?

It was funny , not much i didn’t like

What could we do to improve the film?

Make it longer

Do you think we met the brief?

yes

What comments can you make about editing ?

The editing was very good 

Do you think the script was fitting with the story line ? (Sleazy man and upper class women)

yes

7

Do you understand the concept of the film? 

Yes very clearly

Do you think we chose good actors?

yes

What is your opinion of the location we chose?

looks like a realistic setting

Do you think we obeyed the 180 degree rule?

yes

Are there any continuity errors?

no

Do you like the DVD cover?

yes i like the black and red theme 

What did you like and dislike about the film?

The opening scene , however i think you should have played music in the this scene 

What could we do to improve the film?

said in previous question

Do you think we met the brief?

yes

What comments can you make about editing ?

very good

Do you think the script was fitting with the story line ? (Sleazy man and upper class women)

yes

8

Do you understand the concept of the film? 

yes , speed dating

Do you think we chose good actors?

yes

What is your opinion of the location we chose?

Very realisitic

Do you think we obeyed the 180 degree rule?

yes

Are there any continuity errors?

Extras

Do you like the DVD cover?

The red title stands out , its impressive 

 

What did you like and dislike about the film?

I enjoyed the humor and the facial expressions of the actors 

What could we do to improve the film?

Make the sound better 

Do you think we met the brief?

yes

What comments can you make about editing ?

I like the establishing shot where rosy is in the bathroom , the editing makes it looks as though she has spend a while in there getting ready for the date.

Do you think the script was fitting with the story line ? (Sleazy man and upper class women)

yes , very effective.

After reviewing the comments that our classmates had made the general consensus suggested that the film was a success. The majority of people stated that they liked the actors , setting , DVD cover and the overall general idea of the film, the focus group said that they had enjoyed the humor in the film and found it quite funny , this was a surprise to myself as i was initially pesamistic as to how successful the humour would be in the film .

A lot of the people who had said they enjoyed the film noticed the continuity error with the actors, however this was explained to them that we had no choice but to use different actors , but we also said the we could use this to our advantage , as it is a speed dating event and therefore people change tables throughout the night, this idea was also explained in  production log 3. The only other negative comments we received was about picture quality , however we felt that the quality of the camera was a problem that was of no fault of our own.

 

Production Log 3 -Filming

Before filming we had to identify and analyse any potential risks that may occur during filming , to do this we have to fill out a risk assessment form and illustrate how high or low each risk was.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Furthermore we also had to have signed a Location Release form. This was in order to gain permission to film at the desired locations, we asked the manager of the brasserie and the site manager to sign the forms. The form consisted of dates that we would need to film.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also had to gain permission from the actors in order to film them , to do this we required them to a sign and personal Release form.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

20/11/08-Toilet and Door Scene 

Before we began filming we each allocated ourselves to a job Kim checked the actual scene matched the story board, Elliot and I manned the camera and Rosie dealt with sound.

For the toilet scene our idea was to have an over the shoulder shot whilst Jennifer ( Rosy) were to put her make-up on in the mirror. In order to do this we had to position the camera so that we were not scene in the mirror and also so that we were positioned at the desired  angle, this proved easier than anticipated. For this scene in particular we did not have to film many takes as we achieved the desired outcome quite quickly. 

The second shot we filmed was Jennifer’s ( Rosy’s) hand pushing the door open into the restuarant. It took several takes to get this shot right as the lighting was slightly different and it was difficult to get the positioning of the hand right. However after several tries we felt we aquired the shot we needed.

27/11/08-Wayne and Jennifer Conversation scene

Initially we had wanted to film the entrance scene into the brasserie with the characters Laura and Brett, however this was not possible as the actress Gemma who was to play the part of laura was ill , and the actor craig who was to play the part of brett was not being very co-operative. Due to this we decided to post-pone this scene and carry on with filming the rest of the scenes we needed. 

For this scene everyone Kept the same jobs as they had , had for the pervious scene , except for myself. We realised that we did not have a waitress for the scene so i volunteered. We had to film the scene twice over the shoulder Jennifer (Rosy) and once from over the shoulder of Wayne (Charlie). When doing this we obeyed the 180 degree rule, which was part of our brief.

1/12/08 -Under the Table Shot

This shot was very quick to obtain. Our idea was to shoot Wayne touching Jennifer’s leg to do this we placed the camera under the table, facing the actors leg. We asked Charlie to touch Rosy’s leg whilst simultaneously saying their lines. This is so that we could edit the footage to make the conversation and shots flow more naturally.

4/12/08-Entrance to restaurant scene

Our initial idea for this scene was  to have Jennifer walking into the restaurant to see the ‘good looking’ man Brett, only to be pushed out of the way by Laura , however due to unreliable actors we had to competley remove this scene from our film, although this meant that we did not get the exact film we desired, it still meant that we would get a complete film that made sense. Instead we decided to have Jennifer ( Rosy ) walk straight into the restaurant to sit down with wayne (charlie) , furthermore we decided this would be a point of view shot , from Wayne’s point of view. 

We also had trouble with getting the same extras as we had in the conversation scene and thought that this may effect the continuity of the film , however we realised that the different people would fit in well with the speed dating theme.

From this experience we decided that in the future we would not use friends as extras as it allows us to become easily distracted and defer from the task. Furthermore we decided that for the next film we will have to make , we will try to use a minimal amount of extras.