Planning: Animatic

This is our Animatic storyboard, which gives us and our focus group a vague idea of what our storyboard will look like. We will show this to our focus group and collect feedback.

Organisation: Time Management

On Sunday 12th, we took our main actor, Sophie, out to our location and took pictures for our animatic storyboard, and for our risk assessment. However, the camera we were going to use was out of battery, and we couldn't find the charger, so had to use my mobile phone. Then there was problems uploading the pictures on the computer from my phone, as I don't have a USB lead. Instead we had to load them via facebook, and this took more time then expected, and so didn't get our pictures saved until the 14th. 

Organisation: Shotlist

This is our chronilogical shotlist. This shows the types of shots we want to use and will film. It also shows the order in which we want to  put them in when we come to the editing process after we shoot.  However this is only a rough draft and if some shots don't give us the effect we want when filming; we will try a different shots.

SHOT 1 :  Extreme Close Up  of Sophie's mouth, all you can hear is her breathing heavily.
SHOT 2 : Camera Tilt/ Pan downwards  see what Sophie is wearing and her feet walking.
SHOT 3 :  Pull away, long shot, see Sophie from her attackers point of view, hear a branch snap, and sophie turns around.
SHOT 4 : Match on Action shot, handheld we cut back to Sophie's POV of her looking around behind her.
SHOT 5 : High Angle shot We see Sophie start to walk quicker through the woods.
SHOT 6 : Cut away to sue and sean walking to the front door.
SHOT 7 : Match on action of Sean and Sue walking into the house from opposite angle.
SHOT 8 : Extreme Close Up of Sophie's shoes as she starts to walk a bit quicker.
SHOT 9 : Cut away back to house see Sean and Sue sit down on sofa .
SHOT 10 : Medium close up from behind Sean and Sue watching TV.
SHOT 11 : Panning shot to turn around and see Sean and Sue happy on the sofa.
SHOT 12 : Hand-held shot of attackers feet walking
SHOT 13 : Whip Pan up to the back of Sophie in the distance
SHOT 14 : Tracking shot of Sophie suddenly starting to run behind her
SHOT 15 : Tracking shot of Sophie running from in front of her
SHOT 16 : Close up Sean and Sue's faces, all happy.
SHOT 17 : Pan up to the counter above them to see pictures of Sophie and them.
SHOT 18 : Hand-held shot of Sophie's feet as she runs from her attacker
SHOT 19 : Whip pan of her hair in the wind
SHOT 20 : Medium Whip Pan from the side, see all of her body running.
SHOT 21 : Match on action shot of her feet, she falls and trips over
SHOT 22 : High Angle single shot of her lying on the floor
SHOT 23 : Medium shot from the side of her lying on the floor
SHOT 24 : Low Angle single shot of her lying on the floor

SHOT 25 : High Angle shot of someone's feet walking up to her on the floor
SHOT 26 : Long Shot of Sophie leant against the wall
SHOT 27 : Medium Shot of the front of Sophie leant against the wall
SHOT 28 : Panning Shot of Sophie walking off to the right

Time Management

At the moment we still need to take photos for our photo storyboard. Kate and I have decided to do this in our desired locations on 12/12/10. We can then quickly produce our anematic in the lesson after.

Audience Research: Updates

We showed our focus group our storyboard. We wanted to know if they liked our idea and storyline. We will listen to their comments and interpret them into our final piece





Lauren Hornabrook: "I think the last shot of the girl suggests a twist in the tale. The setting of the woods is very traditional of a thriller genre. The running sequence sounds exciting and scary."

Holly Adams:  " I think the sequence will really capture the audience. One shot in particular, the last one, looks like it would be really effective because it gives the start of the film a sense of mystery." 

We showed part of our focus group our cast list and props and costumes and this what they had to say:

Emma Parker: "The parents cast in the role , as they are already a married couple, will be comfortable together and as they are in their own home it will appear even more realistic.

Rich Emsley " I think the young girl cast for the main character is perfect. She looks innocent and also looks like she could have a dangerous side, in many thrillers characters are not what they seem" 

Organisation: Props and Costumes

Costume/Prop       Source                 Potential Cost     Person in Charge
Flowery dress   -   Lauren Hornabrook    N/A                       Kate Parker      


Wooly tights     -    Sophie - Jo Lusted     N/A                       Sophie- Jo Lusted


Brogues            -   Sophie- Jo Lusted      N/A                       Kate Paker


Wooly Scarf     -   Laura Court-Jones      N/A                        Laura Court-Jones


Jacket/Coat    -   Holly Adams                 N/A                        Laura Court-Jones

                            


 


Costume/Prop       Source                  Potential Cost     Person in Charge


Winter Jumper+
Jeans +
Slippers                        -  Sue Parker            N/A                     Kate Parker


Mens Jeans +
Mens winter Jumper    -  Sean Taylor           N/A                     Kate Parker

Organisation Casting

Sophie-Jo Lusted
Age: 16


For our title sequence we have decided to cast Sophie-Jo Lusted for the main character of Isabell Hartley. She is currently studying Performing Arts at Worcester Sixth Form College, therefore has an interest in acting and agreed to do the part. She is very reliable as she has 
near perfect attendance. 


Sue Parker
Age: 47

Sean Taylor
Age: 48


We interviewed a range of parents and found that Sean and Susan, as a pair worked perfectly and suited the role as Isabells parents. 

Storyboard Synopsis

We will start with a variety of shots of our main character "Isabell Hartley"  running through a wood. There will be close ups of body parts, we will never see her face when she is running. We will take some shots from behind  her running with a hand held camera. Hopefully we will establish that there is someone chasing her. Our sequence will then start to cut to her family in the living room watching T.V happily. We will have paning shots of baby pictures or Isabell. We will have alternating shots of Isabell running and the family. We will then see Isbabell fall over in the woods, then a shot of someones feet. Afte this the title of our film will fill the screen and then fade away. Our last shot will be of Isbabell lent against a wall smirking in a creepy way.

Genre Research Summary

From the research we have done, it seems that thrillers commonly have block titles that fade in and out slowly. Often the titles are simple, either in black and white. The titles used in 'The Usual Suspects' is a prime example of this effect. 

A mix of non diegetic music and diegetic sounds are often used in thrillers to create a eerie, spooky effect. 'The Usual Suspects' uses examples of this. The main opening sequence music; is slow orchestral music, the main instrument used is a violin. Diegetic sounds at the end of the sequence are used to set the scene and bring the audience back to reality.

In the opening sequence to 'Arlington Road' the character introduced at the beginning, is distressed and maybe in trouble, we assume this because his shirt is blood stained. The music in the background highlights a sudden suspense and shows the characters panic. In 'The Usual Suspects' only one character is established at the end of the opening sequence; although he has no lines the dark lighting makes us assume that he could be a dark, evil character.

The Mise-en-scene in the final shot of 'The Usual Suspects' uses fire in the background, often symbolises danger in thrillers. The lighting is also dark, and creates a shadow effect.

Audience Research Focus Group Meeting Analysis

From the feedback we got from our focus group we have decided what ideas we had that would work and would attract our target audience. We also found elements of our ideas that we would need to alter to suit our target audience. We have chosen to keep the theme of family from our moodboard. We will use it as our main theme. Our focus group commented that close family relationships are common in thrillers they have seen. 

Audience Research Focus Group

These are people in our focus group and their comments on our Genre Moodboard, and ideas.

Lauren Hornabrook - Aged 17

" I like the idea you have of using a family, because its always more traumatic when something happens to a close family in a film. Lots of thrillers use families in them. My favourite genres are Romantic Comedy, Comedy and Horror. ' Typically in Romantic Comedy's there would be two people who meet, fall in love then something happens to rock their relationship but it normally ends happily.  I thought the title sequence of 'The Usual Suspect' made the film look like it would be spooky, but it was a bit boring and repetitive. From the title sequence it looked like fire and water might have something to do with the storyline, the film defiantly is set up to look dark and spooky. "

Emma Parker - Age 19

I liked the moodboard, I thought there was a lot on their that typically represents thrillers. However I was a bit confused by the picture of the dummy, maybe this is supposed to represent children, but there already was a picture of a child. My favourite types of films are chick flicks, thrillers and indie films. In a thriller typically there would be murder, children being kidnapped. I liked the 'Arlington Road' opening sequence I thought it was quirky, I didn't like 'The usual suspects' I thought it was a bit boring and unimaginative. In 'Arlington Road' we are set up to think that the boy is the one of the main characters, so I think the film might have something to do with children"

Richard Emsley - Aged 20

I thought the genre moodboard was effective, it had scary and creepy images. I like to watch horror and thriller films most of the time. Things you would typically see in these genres would be death, supernatural quite a lot of the time ghosts and monsters. In most films there is some kind of superhero character who 'saves the day'. I liked both the opening sequences they were both effective in different ways, but I found 'Arlington Road' more intense and more interesting to watch because the there was lots going on at once. Judging by this opening sequence I think maybe the story is set in a typical American neighbour hood 'gone wrong' or something about it not right or 'normal'.

Holly Adams - Aged 16

"I like the moodboard, there are certain images that really remind me of thriller movies. My favourite film genre's are romantic comedy and horrors. In romantic comedy's the main story is normally a love story and something dramatic happens to break them up. However normally they get back together in the end. I didn't really like either of the clips, none of them really interested me I found' Arlington Road' confusing and 'The usual suspects' boring and uninteresting. I couldn't really tell what was going to happen in either of the films but that they were both going to be a bit creepy and weird."

Target Audience

This is our target audience mood board, and what we consider our target audience to be interested in. Our target audience will be 16-24 year olds, in the pyschographic group of mainstreamers. However, it may appeal to a more individualistic audience. On the socio-economic scale our audience will be of B, C1 and C2, and will be mixed gender

Film Openings - Genre Specific Analysis

Our chosen genre is Thriller, therefore we chose to analyse the thrillers: 'Arlington Road' and 'The Usual Suspect'

'The Usual Suspect'

The opening title sequence for 'The Usual Suspect' starts with a empty black screen, a few seconds after the non diegetic music starts. The music is slow, eerie orchestral music, straight away we are presented with mystery and darkness. This type of music is typical of genre thriller. The titles slowly fade in , in block capitals and fade out in a light blue they stand out but give a simple bold effect, however the music is the main element that that audience can focus on. By this point the audience can establish that the tone of the film would be very dark and sinister and typically a thriller.

As the titles continue, in the background we see a vile on light reflected on water moving across the screen. As the titles go on; more and more viles of light appear, again moving. This effect could be interpreted as an enigma, the audience do not know what is causing the light, however from the music we automatically assume its something 'evil'. This is the only thing we see in the title sequence, the fact that we only see this effect and darkness; in itself could suggest that the film has a very dark narrative.

Towards the end of the title sequence the time and place of the film is set. This sets the scene and gives the audience an understanding of what is happening at the start of the film.

After the time and place is set, suddenly we see a close up of a bunch of matches being lit. . This effect is sudden and contrasts to the slow, dark sequence beforehand. This could suggest there might be an element of shock and suspense in the film, features typical to a thriller. Also as an audience we associate fire with danger which could further highlight clues on narrative themes set up in this opening. The Diegtic sound of the matches is also used to set the scene, the non diegetic music is faded out. This signifies to the audience that we have started the narrative.

The final shot is a 'reversed match on action shot' we see a medium close up a man lighting a cigarette with the match. The lighting is very dark in this shot, only natural light is used. The opening shot is also set at night, all this is typical to a thriller genre, the audience are brought into a 'spooky'. Diegetic bell chimes are playing in the background, adding a eerie affect to the shot. Consequently, a burning fire sound is also playing and we see vague flames in the background. This could add to the earlier idea of danger.

The character shown is wearing dark clothing, and looks scruffy which could indicate or enforce the common theme of darkness and evil. Typically in thrillers an 'evil' character is often dressed in dark clothing to make them look sinister.

'Arlington Road'

'Arlington Road''s opening titles begin with a man shouting about a young boy as he makes his way down a hospital corridor .He is wearing a blood-stained white shirt and looks distressedbut not dangerous, unlike the stereotypical creepy character you would get in the  opening of a thriller, we are presented with this ordinary looking man, who is showing concern for the boy. There is missing information of how he got blood on his shirt, who is this boy and what exactly happened? This establish's the genre as a thriller. We are left with the man shouting at the nurse, 'I don't know his name!', which then heightens the mystery surrounding this character. This is a prime example of how Barthe uses his clever theor of enigma code. We as the audience, just like the man, want to know his name and his story. 

The titles take a more traditional sinister approach,that you would expect from a thriller film. The white picket-fence is typical to an American Neighbourhood, however it is in harsh - colours black and red, colours we would associate with danger, violence and blood. The camera effects used throughout help to set a mystical mood. Cleverly they have taken everyday neighbourhood objects, and turned them into spooky, unnatural things. These shots again show what would be an ordinary looking neighbourhood, but in black and white ; however the black and white roles have also been reversed, normally with this effect, the sky would be white and the house black, but by turning this on its head, its creates a rather spooky, scary shot. Again making every-day scenes of American life fit within the thriller genre. 

 Shots of children are used repeatedly throughout this opening sequence, suggesting to the audience that young children might  be a theme that occurs within the film. However the young children are not shown in a positive way but instead as dark and creepy. Camera effects enhance this. At one point we are shown close up shots of little girls running looking back at the person holding the camera, and then it cuts to a shot of two empty swings moving, as if someone has just been playing on the swing and then they were taken or snatched. This also used Barthe's theory of engima code, we ask ourselves why is the swing empty? Who are these children? What is there purpose? The empty swing especially re-enforces the idea, that something is lurking, waiting to take 'our' children, the things we hold most precious to us.

 

The scene with the man in the hospital uses both non-diegetic and diegetic music; the non diegetic music of the surrounding hospital makes it more realistic, whereas the rising of tempo in the diegetic music allows tension to build. Non-diegetic music is very stereotypical of 'Thriller' genre films, as it can unnerve the audience and help introduce them to the genre. The diegetic music used for the rest of the sequence is very creepy, unnerving and at times uncomfortable to listen too, the audience can clearly connate that this film isn't going to be a cheerful chick flick, but a sinister and dark film.

The titles are all in black and white, and sometimes, like in this example change from black and white, reflecting perhaps, how quickly people can change from one thing to another, or something not always being as it seems. The simple colouring of the titles doesn't distract from the  background images, however they still make enough impact to be noticed by the viewer. The font is very bold and square, there are no round edges to suggest playfulness, but only the blunt straight lines, conatating harsh elements to the storyline, which we as an audience expect, considering this genre



Genre Moodboard

This is our Genre Moodboard for our chosen genre - a Thriller. The purpose of this moodboard was to inspire us and help us to develop further ideas for our title sequence. We collected images that we typically associate with thrillers.

First Ideas

Our chosen Genre is Thriller, it is for a demographic of 16 to 24 year olds.  The social class we are aiming at is C1, C2, D. Our psychographic group will be main streamers. I am working in a pair with Katherine Parker.

From Concept to Screen - Dexter

The ideas that were used to create Dexter, were based upon presenting everyday things with a sinister importantance. Eric Anderson took the idea of things that we normally see as mundane, and looked into them in detail he then recontentualized them,' to find that they can actually be presented as violent and sinister within themselves.

 The letter forms in DEXTER are not written normally, two of the letters are the wrong way round; however we can still read this. Anderson explored this idea that we can see what it says on the surface but if we flip it around it's as if something is wrong; this has then been reflected in the character of DEXTER because he becomes a serial killer.


These are some of the images used in the final title sequence.  Some of the extreme close up's use a shallow depth of field to clearly show the violent texture of the object or action. Some of these clips were shown in slow motion , again highlighting the violence. 








The original music Eric Anderson chose was an Xploding Plastix track. He thought the track was extremely powerful, fast paced and felt it showed alot of aggression; however the shows creators felt it had to much of a violent feel to it. Instead they wanted to use a more 

Research: Analysis of the Opening of Juno

The mise-en-scene of large houses, and well-kept gardens clearly shows a middle-class neighbourhood in America, and we automatically assume this is where she lives; further connoting that she must be well-brought up. However her clothing is simple, and the use of the bright coloured red jacket ensures she stands out and immediately stays in our head as the central figure.  The runners, dressed in stereotypically American sporting clothes, run past her; she seems oblivious to them, completely caught up in her in own world, not fitting                                                                                                                                                                          in with the others. 

The animation effect and primary colours used, suggests a childish, quirky theme throughout. The sunny D cartoon has a yellow coloured label matching the titles, connoting to the audience that the titles are important, and as a part of the sunny D cartoon is the same colour, this must have great significance in the rest of the film.  Sunny D is a stereotypically a child’s drink, which empathises her age, and innocence.

The use of the flashing title appearing next to the girl, establishes her as the main character, and enhances the audiences understanding of her name. The font that the titles are written in, is similar to those we see in comic books, and in teenage doodles. So as an audience we make this link and suspect that this film is primarily about teenage life.

The non-diegetic music has a folk theme and helps to heighten the audiences understanding of genre and the low key feel of a US independent film.  It has a childish tune and a relaxing film, which empathises her innocence and mundane lifestyle. The lyrics of the song, ‘if i was tree growing tall and green, all i want is you to shade me and be my leaves’, suggest an element of romance in the film.

The leaves falling onto the ground place the film in its season, autumn, and the colours used along with the font suggest an Indie, quirky genre for the film. However we also expect a coming of age, teen-drama genre, as it is a teenager that we are privileged towards.  

Research: Key Conventions

In an opening title sequence to a film, 'key conventions ' are used to help set the scene. They give the audience an idea of predominant themes in the film also it gives us slight insight into the main characters lives. The genre of the film is also established. Typically the name of the production companies is normally shown first, along with the name of the film. For example 'Brick'.

The details of the cast and crew are often shown when the film actually starts, some films may use the actors name along with a sequence of the character they are playing. The writers and directors are normally specifically mentioned. An indication of place of time is also set, this could be enhanced with the music which could also create a specific mood for the narrative. A particularly effective way of getting the viewers interest; is to use an enigma. Enigmas are unanswered questions which intrigue the viewer, which are often then answered later in the film. Many films use this technique, for example 'London to Brighton'. We are drawn into the drama of 'running away' As an audience we don't know who they are running from and why they are going to Brighton. Enigmas also then set up narrative expectations to what might happen in the rest of the film.

                                                                          

Exposition is another technique often used to tell the viewer more about the character and help set the scene. For example in 'Kick Ass' a voice-over is used throughout the title sequence to provide a running commentary on his life, as an audience we are shown that he is a geeky, average and maybe slightly 'lost' teenager who's oblivious to the opposite sex the mise-en-scene also plays an important part in also telling us this, he is dressed in brightly coloured clothing and wears glasses. The tone and genre of this film is obviously a teen comedy. We know this because of the non dietetic up beat and quirky music. Also in the titles, is a animated sequence gliding through clouds like a super hero. This tells us the film has a childish theme to it and even in the opening titles suggests an idea of superheroes.

                                                                           

Main Task

 For our main task of AS media studies, we have to create the first two minutes of a full length feature film, including titles. All our audio and video must be completely original, and produced by ourselves, however if we find music or audio effect that are copyright free that is also expectable to use. Both the preliminary and main task can be created individually or as a group; however there is a maximum of three members to a group. 

Deadlines

Research Deadline: 26/11/2010

Photo-storyboard Deadline: 17/12/2010

Filming Deadline: 15/01/2011

Production Deadline: 31/01/2011

Evaluation Deadline: 11/02/2011

Targets

What I could improve on next time:

1) Learn how to use the technology and appropriate software. e.g the cameras; Adobe OnLocation and Adobe Premier.

2) I could manage my time better and get my work done quicker.

3) Try and improve the level of continuity in my editing.

Evaluation

In completing my preliminary task I have learnt a lot about the process of editing, how to use filming equipment and how to use the relevant software for editing.

Continuity Editing,  is the process of editing which enables film to look seamless. Shots are edited to create a invisible effect, this enables the audience to relate to the characters in a emotional way and enjoy the film more. Continuity Editing is now considered normality and used universally in all types of film; if a sequence doesn't have continuity editing then the edits start to become visible to the audience. Because this task was based on continuity editing; it was important that we edited our interview properly. One rule of continuity editing is the 180 degree rule. During a shot reverse shot sequence; the camera should remain on a 180 degree line. This enables the audience to view the characters on the same side each time. For example we always shot Jo from the right so she appeared on the left. We then only shot Amy from the left so she appeared only on the right.

During these shot reverse shots we made sure that we had eye line match between the two speakers. To make 'walk in' continuous we filmed a panning shot of Amy walking towards the door then a cut in to a match on action shot of Amy pulling the door handle.

Before filming, we had to plan a storyboard of the different types of shot we wanted to use. We then used a SLR Camera to to take photos of the shot types we wanted. For example we took two photos to show our first panning shot. We then uploaded our photos and created a photo storyboard on Photoshop.  We found this camera simple to use once we established the different buttons. However we only needed the capture button at this stage. I felt we were fairly organsised. We took out picture fairly quick and effiently. However we could have made our sketched storyboard more detailed. Also we should have made sure we knew clearly which drive to save our work in.  One problem we had at this stage was that after completing our storyboard; we saved it in the wrong drive. This meant when we logged back on next lesson, we lost our storyboard and all our pictures. We decided that the best solution to this would be using the still images from our filming, we would re-create our storyboard at a later date.

The challenge for us came when we were introduced to the digital cameras. We had never used one before, so it took us a while to figure out how to operate it; also what exactly we had to do to use the tripod. However it didn't take us long to feel confident using the equipment. Before filming we set up the tripod in the hall area and made sure it was level. We then clipped on the camera and took a few practices at panning it round so we got a smooth shot. We made sur we left two seconds inbetween each peice of dialogue so when it came to editing we did not have any cut off speech. Also we figured out how to use the zoom button so we could film our extreme close up shot.

We uploaded out footage by plugging in our digital camera to the computer and loading up 'Adobe OnLocation'. We then played out interview and recorded the clips we wanted to keep onto the computer. We found it challenging to record the clips at the right time, without cutting off the dialogue. The next stage was creating our sequence, the software we used for this was 'Adobe Premier'. Both pieces of software were new to us, therefore it took us time to understand how to use the appropriate tools. We exported our clips into 'Adobe Premier' and used the cut tool to erase any pauses or anything that would affect the continous flow or out sequence. We did find a problem in the fact that our cut away shot of the canteen was pixilated this resulted in us only using the first part of this shot. On its own this was not very effective, we were advised to slow down the shot down instead. Another problem we had was that part of our shot had a sharp beeping noise on it. We removed this by moving keyframes down and muting the noise.

After finishing editing our sequence we then created a 'YouTube' account and uploaded our video onto there. We the took the HTML and posted onto our blog. Overall i am please with our end result, taking in to consideration this was the first time we had used any of the equipment or software. I believe that our sequence has sucessfully demonstrated conituity editing. We did find this task challlenging, at one point our software constantly crashed and multiple times we lost work, however we have learnt a lot from this experience. Blogger has helped keep our work organised and in chronological order. It is very easy to update and work is unlikely to get lost.

Post-Production

Me and my partner for this task, Kate found editing a extremely challenging process. During editing we were also learning how to use 'Adobe OnLocation' and 'Adobe Premier' therefore it took us longer to understand how to cut shots. To make this process even harder our software constantly crashed. We had to be patient and upload our clips separately into Premier; this took time and we spent many lessons editing our 36 seconds of film. 

Production

When we started our filming, we found it a challenge as we had not used the cameras for filming before. We soon learnt how to film the shots we wanted and our filming ran smoothly. However we did have to re-take a couple of our shots to make sure we had eyeline match and also because the actors were laughing.

Pre-Production Tasks

Before we started to film our 'interview', we had to make a general storyboard, a photo storyboard and script. We took still images of each individual shot we planned to film, and pasted them into a storyboard. This ensured we had all of the shots we needed in the order, e.g match on action, shot/reverse shot, cut away and cut in. We knew we wanted for our actors/actresses to discuss the canteen, so we chose to shot in the hall, which was empty  and also directly next to the canteen, which meant we weren't wondering around college wasting time. Our interview was between two girls, who are already members of our media class, and in turn we were the actresses for their interview. We thought that it would be easier to use students that were in our class, as it did not disrupt other lesson by taking students out.

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