Friday 23 April 2010
Thursday 22 April 2010
Final Evaluation
In what way does your media project use, develop or challenge forms and conventions for real media products?
When choosing the idea for our thriller, as a group we felt it was important that the opening was mysterious and didn’t let the audience know much about what was going to happen or what has happened. To ensure that this is what we achieved we added flashbacks that were very short clips and were from all different camera shots and angles, the clips showed different parts of the rape of a girl at a party, by making the clips short it hopefully will make the audience want to see more of what is happening and therefore want to keep watching. By the opening having a sense of mystery I believe it will be easier for the audience to label it as a thriller and not get confused with different genres. By using various different camera shots it should hopefully keep the audience watching as they do not know what is coming next. After discussing with a member of my group what kind of a title we should have and how the title would appear during our introduction, we decided to watch some introductions of other thrillers for inspiration, one caught our eye particularly and it was ‘Fargo’ from 1996, the title appears over the introduction in bold white and is simply faded in. I liked this one and believed it would be effective as it was simple but straight to the point, as our title ‘The morning after’ is quite suggestive of the storyline I felt it was important for it to be obvious what the title was. ‘Fargo’ was also part of the inspiration for our introduction, the introduction was simply a car travelling down a long road, the introduction answered no questions but created lots for the audience, you began to ask where the car is driving to and who is driving it. As a group we also wanted the audience to ask questions so we tried in our work to create the same amount of tension and mystery as seen in ‘Fargo’. Trying to stick to thriller conventions was quite difficult, when trying to ensure the audience can understand that it is thriller it was important we made it clear it wasn’t a horror. Thriller conventions such as tension and mystery were very important when planning our thriller; I believe that our thriller successfully achieves the amount of tension and mystery of that of a real thriller. By watching other thriller introductions we were able to ensure that our introduction looked like a professionally done thriller. I believe that creating the suspense that we have has come mainly from our choice of music as the victim is seen walking. The music is eerie and quite slow gripping the audience and making them continue watching. The piece of music that we chose was called ‘demented dream’ and was found on a copyright free website. The introduction is now drowned by music the music is played quietly over the original audio, throughout the introduction sounds such as footsteps and breathing can be heard, this portrays how lonely the character is when she is walking and also enhances the tension. Sound effects are regularly seen in the opening of thrillers, sound effects of children laughing, screams and a phone ringing are used in the 2004 film ‘Man on fire’. We have also used the sound of a phone ringing in our thriller. When discussing sound with my group I had ‘man on fire’ in my head as I believed the sound succeeded in creating suspense and tension. When filming our thriller it was important what time of day we filmed as thrillers use dark lighting in order to create mystery, as our thriller is set in the morning it was important we filmed very early in the morning in order for it still to be dark enough to achieve the feel of mystery.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
As our thriller opening only featured a girl and a boy it’s hard to a represent a particular social class, especially as you do not learn much about either of the characters for dramatic effect and suspense. By using a young woman as the victim in the opening it sticks to typical thriller storyline. Young women are represented as being vulnerable in the opening of our thriller. It is possible for our thriller to be criticised for portraying females as weak. The film ‘Straw Dogs’ was criticised for its violent concluding sequence and a complicated rape scene that was said to be debasement to women. As our opening shows the rape of a young girl perhaps this could also be seen as degrading to women. By sticking with the usual thriller scenario though it reduces the risk of confusion when being watched by audiences. As the characters in the opening are middle class, it represents middle class teenage boys in a bad light, a boy in his late teens is seen to be raping a girl at a house party in an upstairs bedroom, and this implies that teenagers are irresponsible with alcohol and uncontrollable. Alcohol is also used in our opening, the under age girl is seen vomiting into a sink and then continuing to drink a bottle of wine that was on the side, by seeing her do this, the girl is shown to be irresponsible and not knowing where to stop, this represents the social group of 16/17 year old popular girls to be un sensible when drinking.
What kind of media institute might distribute your media product and why?
If distributing my thriller film to a company, I would distribute it to Warp X. Warp X is a pioneering new film studio based in Sheffield, with offices based in Nottingham and London, and is allied to warp films and warp records. With the company being so close to where our thriller was filmed it would attract them to our product as our film like their own are low budget. The theme of our film also matches some of theirs that have been successful in the United Kingdom, such as ‘Donkey Punch’. Warp X’s first slate of films was set up by the UK film council and film4. There other key financial backers are EM media and screen Yorkshire. By starting of with the small company that is backed by more famous and successful film companies it gives chance for our company’s success to advance. Warp X is built on creative talent and not by high budget blockbusters; the company target a niche audience which could be helpful when trying to reach our audience.
DONKEY PUNCH
DONKEY PUNCH follows three girls on a hedonistic weekend in Spain. They meet a group of lads who take them back to their luxury yacht to carry on the party out at sea. Drink and drugs fuel the highly charged atmosphere on board but the euphoria abruptly ends when sexual boundaries are crossed, resulting in a horrific accidental death. The once idyllic and carefree afternoon rapidly turns to one of mind games, terror and a frantic fight for survival.
After watching donkey punch I believed that the self proclaimed ‘thriller’ was more of a horror. But after analysing the use of camera shots and sound to create tension in the film I believed that our thriller, has successfully used lighting and camera to create mystery and tension in the same way a successful film made by Warp X had. As the films that Warp X produce are similar to the one me and my group have began to create I believe Warp X would be the right company to distribute our product as we meet there usual films.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
I believe if the opening to our thriller was made in to a full film it would be given a 15 certificate as the opening is rather graphic. Although it would be given this certificate I feel that the age group who would be most interested in the film would be those of there late teens to mid thirties. If the audience can relate to characters then they will be interested in watching the film as they feel a connection. I also believe though that the target audience would be those who enjoy psychological thrillers and films that will make them think about things. The film we have created is made to be filled with tension, mystery and suspense and the target group that come to watch our films should be able to enjoy the confusion of the film throughout the duration. When viewing the results from the questionnaire taken from our target audience it became clear that 70% of the audience we asked preferred a slow paced opening to a thriller, after taking this into account we made the opening slow paced to fit the needs of our target audience.
How did you attract/address your audience?
Ways in which I attracted the audience was mainly through suspense, by making the sequence mysterious it therefore leaves the audience asking questions and wanting to watch more of the thriller. By the first clip being of a person, the audience can then connect with her. We used a skilled actress to make the acting look as real as possible to engage the audience so they want to know more about this character. The choice of music we used was important in order to attract our audience, we used music that was mysterious this kept the audience on the edge of there sits and waiting for something to happen to make them jump. By using various sound effects the audience’s concentration is kept throughout the opening as it isn’t just a repetitive song playing in the background, for example a phone is used in order to keep the audience questions and wanting to find out more about the characters featured. By adding in violent flashbacks throughout the opening the audience become hooked and want to find out if the attack was provoked and whether the victim knows the attacker. Through giving many UN answered questions in the opening to our thriller we then have the audience’s full attention for when the films storyline begins. The costume we used for the female character also created lots of questions for the audience to ask, the second shot in the opening is a close up of the actresses legs walking across the bridge, the first thing the audience pick up on is that the tights the character is wearing have large un neat rips in them, the audience immediately question what has happened last night. The flashbacks we use are open ended and give the audience time to make assumptions of the storyline and paint a picture of what they expect will happen, this keeps them interested in watching the film. The lead actress in our opening doesn’t say anything until she answers the phone at the end of the opening, the way she answers the phone and the way her facial expressions change when she hears what’s on the phone, show the audience the true horror of the flashbacks they have previously watched. I think that we successfully use different ways to attract our audience and to encourage them to continue watching.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
As I did not take media for GCSE using the cameras was new to me, after picking up the basics pretty easily then learning pans, zooms colour contrasts etc learning the rest came quickly. From being able to work the camera successfully it gave me and my group the freedom to try out different and more adventurous shots that would be impossible to pull of without the initial knowledge of the camera. During our filming we learnt the ability to do shots such as shot/reverse shot, close ups, long short, over the should shots and we also added in various pans and also over head views of our characters. The most effective shot I believe we did was a point of view shot from the victim, the way that we made the camera look shaky in order to symbolise the victims fear looks very effective in our final piece. Learning how to use Adobe Premier was more difficult then learning how to work the camera effectively. As I have little experience with the software I was not the main editor I still picked up on the main functions of the software and contributed to half of the editing team. Although I have sat and learned how to work it all I haven’t yet had chance to operate the programme on my own. This aside I still know how to work the programme. With Robert we enjoyed experimenting with different options on the programme, through the trial and error process it was difficult at some times to find exactly what we wanted and that would look as effective as we were tying to make it look. Now our final piece is finished I believe that sticking it out and working with all different options on the programme we have a good opening to a thriller.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
I have learnt a lot in the time from the preliminary task up until now. Learning how to work adobe premier has been the most useful thing I have learnt. Knowing how to work editing software means that I can practice and get better so that my work can continue to look more and more professional. Also choosing locations for filming is a useful skill I have learnt, if the location doesn’t have relevant to what you are trying to capture when portraying the character then the illusion is broken. Working with Robert in the editing process has given us both chance to learn how to make things look real and choosing sound that fits in with the clips on the screen. I think by Robert knowing how to work software and me working with him has been useful for me as I have improved a lot on understanding editing. The preliminary task first introduced the basics of working the camera, it gave me an outline of what to expect when beginning our final piece. The preliminary task helped me practice dealing with problems that I would face in the thriller task. I learnt the ‘180 degree rule’ and as I did not understand it on paper I believe practicing it was the perfect way for me to learn. When finishing the preliminary task I believe that I could have used more effective shots and lighting that would of further prepared me for the final product. When first beginning the final product I was still not 100% certain on everything, but I began to work hard to ensure that I did for when the filming and editing process was underway. Effects we used in our preliminary task I took forward onto our final piece, changing the preliminary task into black and white was effective so I decided to pitch this to my final piece group. We all decided that not changing it black and white but making flashbacks different to the present was very important, to over come this we changed the lighting of the flashback to make them darker and more mysterious.
When choosing the idea for our thriller, as a group we felt it was important that the opening was mysterious and didn’t let the audience know much about what was going to happen or what has happened. To ensure that this is what we achieved we added flashbacks that were very short clips and were from all different camera shots and angles, the clips showed different parts of the rape of a girl at a party, by making the clips short it hopefully will make the audience want to see more of what is happening and therefore want to keep watching. By the opening having a sense of mystery I believe it will be easier for the audience to label it as a thriller and not get confused with different genres. By using various different camera shots it should hopefully keep the audience watching as they do not know what is coming next. After discussing with a member of my group what kind of a title we should have and how the title would appear during our introduction, we decided to watch some introductions of other thrillers for inspiration, one caught our eye particularly and it was ‘Fargo’ from 1996, the title appears over the introduction in bold white and is simply faded in. I liked this one and believed it would be effective as it was simple but straight to the point, as our title ‘The morning after’ is quite suggestive of the storyline I felt it was important for it to be obvious what the title was. ‘Fargo’ was also part of the inspiration for our introduction, the introduction was simply a car travelling down a long road, the introduction answered no questions but created lots for the audience, you began to ask where the car is driving to and who is driving it. As a group we also wanted the audience to ask questions so we tried in our work to create the same amount of tension and mystery as seen in ‘Fargo’. Trying to stick to thriller conventions was quite difficult, when trying to ensure the audience can understand that it is thriller it was important we made it clear it wasn’t a horror. Thriller conventions such as tension and mystery were very important when planning our thriller; I believe that our thriller successfully achieves the amount of tension and mystery of that of a real thriller. By watching other thriller introductions we were able to ensure that our introduction looked like a professionally done thriller. I believe that creating the suspense that we have has come mainly from our choice of music as the victim is seen walking. The music is eerie and quite slow gripping the audience and making them continue watching. The piece of music that we chose was called ‘demented dream’ and was found on a copyright free website. The introduction is now drowned by music the music is played quietly over the original audio, throughout the introduction sounds such as footsteps and breathing can be heard, this portrays how lonely the character is when she is walking and also enhances the tension. Sound effects are regularly seen in the opening of thrillers, sound effects of children laughing, screams and a phone ringing are used in the 2004 film ‘Man on fire’. We have also used the sound of a phone ringing in our thriller. When discussing sound with my group I had ‘man on fire’ in my head as I believed the sound succeeded in creating suspense and tension. When filming our thriller it was important what time of day we filmed as thrillers use dark lighting in order to create mystery, as our thriller is set in the morning it was important we filmed very early in the morning in order for it still to be dark enough to achieve the feel of mystery.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
As our thriller opening only featured a girl and a boy it’s hard to a represent a particular social class, especially as you do not learn much about either of the characters for dramatic effect and suspense. By using a young woman as the victim in the opening it sticks to typical thriller storyline. Young women are represented as being vulnerable in the opening of our thriller. It is possible for our thriller to be criticised for portraying females as weak. The film ‘Straw Dogs’ was criticised for its violent concluding sequence and a complicated rape scene that was said to be debasement to women. As our opening shows the rape of a young girl perhaps this could also be seen as degrading to women. By sticking with the usual thriller scenario though it reduces the risk of confusion when being watched by audiences. As the characters in the opening are middle class, it represents middle class teenage boys in a bad light, a boy in his late teens is seen to be raping a girl at a house party in an upstairs bedroom, and this implies that teenagers are irresponsible with alcohol and uncontrollable. Alcohol is also used in our opening, the under age girl is seen vomiting into a sink and then continuing to drink a bottle of wine that was on the side, by seeing her do this, the girl is shown to be irresponsible and not knowing where to stop, this represents the social group of 16/17 year old popular girls to be un sensible when drinking.
What kind of media institute might distribute your media product and why?
If distributing my thriller film to a company, I would distribute it to Warp X. Warp X is a pioneering new film studio based in Sheffield, with offices based in Nottingham and London, and is allied to warp films and warp records. With the company being so close to where our thriller was filmed it would attract them to our product as our film like their own are low budget. The theme of our film also matches some of theirs that have been successful in the United Kingdom, such as ‘Donkey Punch’. Warp X’s first slate of films was set up by the UK film council and film4. There other key financial backers are EM media and screen Yorkshire. By starting of with the small company that is backed by more famous and successful film companies it gives chance for our company’s success to advance. Warp X is built on creative talent and not by high budget blockbusters; the company target a niche audience which could be helpful when trying to reach our audience.
DONKEY PUNCH
DONKEY PUNCH follows three girls on a hedonistic weekend in Spain. They meet a group of lads who take them back to their luxury yacht to carry on the party out at sea. Drink and drugs fuel the highly charged atmosphere on board but the euphoria abruptly ends when sexual boundaries are crossed, resulting in a horrific accidental death. The once idyllic and carefree afternoon rapidly turns to one of mind games, terror and a frantic fight for survival.
After watching donkey punch I believed that the self proclaimed ‘thriller’ was more of a horror. But after analysing the use of camera shots and sound to create tension in the film I believed that our thriller, has successfully used lighting and camera to create mystery and tension in the same way a successful film made by Warp X had. As the films that Warp X produce are similar to the one me and my group have began to create I believe Warp X would be the right company to distribute our product as we meet there usual films.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
I believe if the opening to our thriller was made in to a full film it would be given a 15 certificate as the opening is rather graphic. Although it would be given this certificate I feel that the age group who would be most interested in the film would be those of there late teens to mid thirties. If the audience can relate to characters then they will be interested in watching the film as they feel a connection. I also believe though that the target audience would be those who enjoy psychological thrillers and films that will make them think about things. The film we have created is made to be filled with tension, mystery and suspense and the target group that come to watch our films should be able to enjoy the confusion of the film throughout the duration. When viewing the results from the questionnaire taken from our target audience it became clear that 70% of the audience we asked preferred a slow paced opening to a thriller, after taking this into account we made the opening slow paced to fit the needs of our target audience.
How did you attract/address your audience?
Ways in which I attracted the audience was mainly through suspense, by making the sequence mysterious it therefore leaves the audience asking questions and wanting to watch more of the thriller. By the first clip being of a person, the audience can then connect with her. We used a skilled actress to make the acting look as real as possible to engage the audience so they want to know more about this character. The choice of music we used was important in order to attract our audience, we used music that was mysterious this kept the audience on the edge of there sits and waiting for something to happen to make them jump. By using various sound effects the audience’s concentration is kept throughout the opening as it isn’t just a repetitive song playing in the background, for example a phone is used in order to keep the audience questions and wanting to find out more about the characters featured. By adding in violent flashbacks throughout the opening the audience become hooked and want to find out if the attack was provoked and whether the victim knows the attacker. Through giving many UN answered questions in the opening to our thriller we then have the audience’s full attention for when the films storyline begins. The costume we used for the female character also created lots of questions for the audience to ask, the second shot in the opening is a close up of the actresses legs walking across the bridge, the first thing the audience pick up on is that the tights the character is wearing have large un neat rips in them, the audience immediately question what has happened last night. The flashbacks we use are open ended and give the audience time to make assumptions of the storyline and paint a picture of what they expect will happen, this keeps them interested in watching the film. The lead actress in our opening doesn’t say anything until she answers the phone at the end of the opening, the way she answers the phone and the way her facial expressions change when she hears what’s on the phone, show the audience the true horror of the flashbacks they have previously watched. I think that we successfully use different ways to attract our audience and to encourage them to continue watching.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
As I did not take media for GCSE using the cameras was new to me, after picking up the basics pretty easily then learning pans, zooms colour contrasts etc learning the rest came quickly. From being able to work the camera successfully it gave me and my group the freedom to try out different and more adventurous shots that would be impossible to pull of without the initial knowledge of the camera. During our filming we learnt the ability to do shots such as shot/reverse shot, close ups, long short, over the should shots and we also added in various pans and also over head views of our characters. The most effective shot I believe we did was a point of view shot from the victim, the way that we made the camera look shaky in order to symbolise the victims fear looks very effective in our final piece. Learning how to use Adobe Premier was more difficult then learning how to work the camera effectively. As I have little experience with the software I was not the main editor I still picked up on the main functions of the software and contributed to half of the editing team. Although I have sat and learned how to work it all I haven’t yet had chance to operate the programme on my own. This aside I still know how to work the programme. With Robert we enjoyed experimenting with different options on the programme, through the trial and error process it was difficult at some times to find exactly what we wanted and that would look as effective as we were tying to make it look. Now our final piece is finished I believe that sticking it out and working with all different options on the programme we have a good opening to a thriller.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
I have learnt a lot in the time from the preliminary task up until now. Learning how to work adobe premier has been the most useful thing I have learnt. Knowing how to work editing software means that I can practice and get better so that my work can continue to look more and more professional. Also choosing locations for filming is a useful skill I have learnt, if the location doesn’t have relevant to what you are trying to capture when portraying the character then the illusion is broken. Working with Robert in the editing process has given us both chance to learn how to make things look real and choosing sound that fits in with the clips on the screen. I think by Robert knowing how to work software and me working with him has been useful for me as I have improved a lot on understanding editing. The preliminary task first introduced the basics of working the camera, it gave me an outline of what to expect when beginning our final piece. The preliminary task helped me practice dealing with problems that I would face in the thriller task. I learnt the ‘180 degree rule’ and as I did not understand it on paper I believe practicing it was the perfect way for me to learn. When finishing the preliminary task I believe that I could have used more effective shots and lighting that would of further prepared me for the final product. When first beginning the final product I was still not 100% certain on everything, but I began to work hard to ensure that I did for when the filming and editing process was underway. Effects we used in our preliminary task I took forward onto our final piece, changing the preliminary task into black and white was effective so I decided to pitch this to my final piece group. We all decided that not changing it black and white but making flashbacks different to the present was very important, to over come this we changed the lighting of the flashback to make them darker and more mysterious.
Thursday the 22nd of April
Todays lesson was our final chance to finish everything off before the hand in date tommorow. It was a busy lesson that meant we had to perfect our editing and i also had to check my evaluation and blogs.
As me and Robert had to finish our evaluation changes Sarah and Catherine began to finish the editing, they asked us questions on what to do but after they finished editing it turned out quite well.
My evaluation had most changes made to it but i needed to read through it and make sure that there wasnt anything else to do to it. I belive that my evaluation is now alot better then my origional draft and that i could have added quite alot of marks to my origional grade.
As me and Robert had to finish our evaluation changes Sarah and Catherine began to finish the editing, they asked us questions on what to do but after they finished editing it turned out quite well.
My evaluation had most changes made to it but i needed to read through it and make sure that there wasnt anything else to do to it. I belive that my evaluation is now alot better then my origional draft and that i could have added quite alot of marks to my origional grade.
Tuesday the 20th of april
Today our group got feedback on the evaluations we had previously handed in. The feedback that we got was very constructive and simple to follow. After the feedback as a class, sir then came over and gave me some individual pointers that i could do to inprove my evaluation. After taking this on board and planning out new things i would write for each question, i began to make changes to my evaluation.
I failed to finish all improvements to my evaluation so wrote a reminder to finsih it when i get home that night.
For the second part of the lesson Robert and I continued to edit our thriller. Sarah and Catherine had speant the first hour looking for a music track that we could add in to our thriller. After they had chosen the music robert and I then edited it in. This was difficult as the music in the flashbacks is of a completely different genre so it was difficult to make the thriller flow from track to track. We over came this by mixing the two together so they cross over eachother in the flashbacks, i believe this is a very useful way to make it flow and it also looks very proffessional.
I failed to finish all improvements to my evaluation so wrote a reminder to finsih it when i get home that night.
For the second part of the lesson Robert and I continued to edit our thriller. Sarah and Catherine had speant the first hour looking for a music track that we could add in to our thriller. After they had chosen the music robert and I then edited it in. This was difficult as the music in the flashbacks is of a completely different genre so it was difficult to make the thriller flow from track to track. We over came this by mixing the two together so they cross over eachother in the flashbacks, i believe this is a very useful way to make it flow and it also looks very proffessional.
Sunday 18 April 2010
Evaluation
In what way does your media project use, develop or challenge forms and conventions for real media products?
When choosing the idea for our thriller, as a group we felt it was important that the opening was mysterious and didn’t let the audience know much about what was going to happen or what has happened. To ensure that this is what we achieved we added flashbacks that were very short clips and were from all different camera shots and angles, the clips showed different parts of the rape of a girl at a party, by making the clips short it hopefully will make the audience want to see more of what is happening and therefore want to keep watching. By the opening having a sense of mystery I believe it will be easier for the audience to label it as a thriller and not get confused with different genres. By using various different camera shots it should hopefully keep the audience watching as they do not know what is coming next.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
As our thriller opening only featured a girl and a boy it’s hard to a represent a particular social class, especially as you do not learn much about either of the characters for dramatic effect and suspense. By using a young woman as the victim in the opening it sticks to typical thriller storyline. Young women are represented as being vulnerable in the opening of our thriller.
What kind of media institute might distribute your media product and why?
If distributing my thriller film to a company, I would distribute it to Warp X. Warp X is only a small British distribution company that works with small film companies to get films made. As the films that Warp X makes are films from small directors and basically unknown actors I believe that this company fits with the type of thing we are doing.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
I believe if the opening to our thriller was made in to a full film it would be given a 15 certificate as the opening is rather graphic. Although it would be given this certificate I feel that the age group who would be most interested in the film would be those of there late teens to mid twenties as the actors are portraying characters of that age group. If the audience can relate to characters then they will be interested in watching the film as they feel a connection.
How did you attract/address your audience?
Ways in which I attracted the audience was mainly through suspense, by making the sequence mysterious it therefore leaves the audience asking questions and wanting to watch more of the thriller. By the first clip being of a person, the audience can then connect with her. We used a skilled actress to make the acting look as real as possible to engage the audience so they want to know more about this character.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
As I did not take media for GCSE using the cameras was new to me, after picking up the basics pretty easily then learning pans, zooms colour contrasts etc came quickly. Learning how to use Adobe Premier was more difficult. As I have little experience with the software I was not the main editor. Although I have sat and learned how to work it all I haven’t yet had chance to operate the programme on my own. This aside I still know how to work the programme.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
I have learnt a lot in the time from the preliminary task up until now. Learning how to work adobe premier has been the most useful thing I have learnt. Knowing how to work editing software means that I can practice and get better so that my work can continue to look more and more professional. Also choosing locations for filming is a useful skill I have learnt, if the location doesn’t have relevant to what you are trying to capture when portraying the character then the illusion is broken. Working with Robert in the editing process has given us both chance to learn how to make things look real and choosing sound that fits in with the clips on the screen. I think by Robert knowing how to work software and me working with him has been useful for me as I have improved a lot on understanding editing.
When choosing the idea for our thriller, as a group we felt it was important that the opening was mysterious and didn’t let the audience know much about what was going to happen or what has happened. To ensure that this is what we achieved we added flashbacks that were very short clips and were from all different camera shots and angles, the clips showed different parts of the rape of a girl at a party, by making the clips short it hopefully will make the audience want to see more of what is happening and therefore want to keep watching. By the opening having a sense of mystery I believe it will be easier for the audience to label it as a thriller and not get confused with different genres. By using various different camera shots it should hopefully keep the audience watching as they do not know what is coming next.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
As our thriller opening only featured a girl and a boy it’s hard to a represent a particular social class, especially as you do not learn much about either of the characters for dramatic effect and suspense. By using a young woman as the victim in the opening it sticks to typical thriller storyline. Young women are represented as being vulnerable in the opening of our thriller.
What kind of media institute might distribute your media product and why?
If distributing my thriller film to a company, I would distribute it to Warp X. Warp X is only a small British distribution company that works with small film companies to get films made. As the films that Warp X makes are films from small directors and basically unknown actors I believe that this company fits with the type of thing we are doing.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
I believe if the opening to our thriller was made in to a full film it would be given a 15 certificate as the opening is rather graphic. Although it would be given this certificate I feel that the age group who would be most interested in the film would be those of there late teens to mid twenties as the actors are portraying characters of that age group. If the audience can relate to characters then they will be interested in watching the film as they feel a connection.
How did you attract/address your audience?
Ways in which I attracted the audience was mainly through suspense, by making the sequence mysterious it therefore leaves the audience asking questions and wanting to watch more of the thriller. By the first clip being of a person, the audience can then connect with her. We used a skilled actress to make the acting look as real as possible to engage the audience so they want to know more about this character.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
As I did not take media for GCSE using the cameras was new to me, after picking up the basics pretty easily then learning pans, zooms colour contrasts etc came quickly. Learning how to use Adobe Premier was more difficult. As I have little experience with the software I was not the main editor. Although I have sat and learned how to work it all I haven’t yet had chance to operate the programme on my own. This aside I still know how to work the programme.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
I have learnt a lot in the time from the preliminary task up until now. Learning how to work adobe premier has been the most useful thing I have learnt. Knowing how to work editing software means that I can practice and get better so that my work can continue to look more and more professional. Also choosing locations for filming is a useful skill I have learnt, if the location doesn’t have relevant to what you are trying to capture when portraying the character then the illusion is broken. Working with Robert in the editing process has given us both chance to learn how to make things look real and choosing sound that fits in with the clips on the screen. I think by Robert knowing how to work software and me working with him has been useful for me as I have improved a lot on understanding editing.
Thursday the 15th of April- Editing and Sound
Today Robert and i continued editing our thriller, we added in the rest of our clips and we made the sequences smoother and more proffessional.
After placing the new footage in we then had to edit the title of the film in, as i disagreed with how the title appeared in our first draft i decided it would look better if it faded in over the final voice over of the breathing down the phone. Robert and I played around with different opptions for a while but in the end decided on one that looked really good.
As our editing of the clips has been completed up to what we can do at the moment, Robert and i began looking for sound for our thriller. The difficulty with this is that popular songs have copy right laws against using them, so we had to look on copy right free websites. This is difficult because obviously free music to use is not as good quality of music that is famous. We found a website that had quite a selection off copyright free music. After listning to quite a few it was the end of the lesson so we have yet to find a track suitible for our Thriller so this is the main task for Tuesday the 20th of april.
After placing the new footage in we then had to edit the title of the film in, as i disagreed with how the title appeared in our first draft i decided it would look better if it faded in over the final voice over of the breathing down the phone. Robert and I played around with different opptions for a while but in the end decided on one that looked really good.
As our editing of the clips has been completed up to what we can do at the moment, Robert and i began looking for sound for our thriller. The difficulty with this is that popular songs have copy right laws against using them, so we had to look on copy right free websites. This is difficult because obviously free music to use is not as good quality of music that is famous. We found a website that had quite a selection off copyright free music. After listning to quite a few it was the end of the lesson so we have yet to find a track suitible for our Thriller so this is the main task for Tuesday the 20th of april.
Thursday 15 April 2010
Tuesday 13 April 2010
Tueday the 13th of April- Editing
In todays lesson Robert and I began to edit the footage we captured on sunday. We captured the footage on to the software to begin with and then we started to re name the differnt shots we had taken.
As we had done a few shots for each section we filmed we started editing by choosing the ones that were the best and deleting those that were no use.
The first shots we edited in were the ones that we had re filmed in better quality. After comparing the two we decided the dicision to re film them was the best idea.
For the second part of editing we began adding on the clips we had filmed to make the thriller make more sense. After we finished editing in the long, short and overheads and ensure that they were running smoothe and looked like they were filmed the same daye we then added in the voice over we had recorded on sunday.
The voice recording worked really well as you can hear the breathing as the camera zooms in on the actresses face. But after watching it back i pointed out to Robert that the phone is ringing as she walks towars the front door but as she gets close you cant hear it. to over come this we cut the sound of the ringing telephone and made it quiter, we then copied it onto the other clips so it sounded like the phone was ringing through the door.
After watchign back the clips we had done i think we made the right decision re filming what we had done to make it better.
to finsih the lesson we started sorting out the titles taht show up as the thriller into plays. As we didnt get to finish doing this, i belive we will continue on thursdays lesson.
As we had done a few shots for each section we filmed we started editing by choosing the ones that were the best and deleting those that were no use.
The first shots we edited in were the ones that we had re filmed in better quality. After comparing the two we decided the dicision to re film them was the best idea.
For the second part of editing we began adding on the clips we had filmed to make the thriller make more sense. After we finished editing in the long, short and overheads and ensure that they were running smoothe and looked like they were filmed the same daye we then added in the voice over we had recorded on sunday.
The voice recording worked really well as you can hear the breathing as the camera zooms in on the actresses face. But after watching it back i pointed out to Robert that the phone is ringing as she walks towars the front door but as she gets close you cant hear it. to over come this we cut the sound of the ringing telephone and made it quiter, we then copied it onto the other clips so it sounded like the phone was ringing through the door.
After watchign back the clips we had done i think we made the right decision re filming what we had done to make it better.
to finsih the lesson we started sorting out the titles taht show up as the thriller into plays. As we didnt get to finish doing this, i belive we will continue on thursdays lesson.
Sunday the 11th of April- Filming
Today after talking over the phone our group meant up at catherines house to film the the footage we had discussed the thurday before we broke up. The actress was there but our actor could not make it. Although this didnt effect our filming to a great extent i feel the shots we needed would of been more effective if he was present.
The shots we had to film were a few long shots and a few close ups. As me and Robert arrived Sarah was filming a long shot of our actress walking towards the front door a shot that we had previously done but could of been better quality.
We then moved inside the house and filmed another long shot this time of the door opening and the actress coming inside to then fall on to the floor in exaustion and shock of what had happened the previous night. This shot took various attmepts due to the hight of the camera and also the believeablity of the fall to the ground. The shot then came together when we all agreed that a pan towards the floor as the actress falls would be the best solution for our problems.
The next shot we had to to was a shot of the phone ringing, we did a close up of the phone ringing by itself for dramatic effect and to symbolise the shock of it.
We then did an over head shot of the phone ringing and the actress moving into camera view and answering the phone. Again this took a couple of trys in order for it to properly set up for the next shot. I then suggested to do the shot through the banister on the stairs so it looked as though somebody was watchign her as she picked up the telephone. After watchign the shot back i belive it looked more effective.
The final shot that we needed to film was a shot of the actress answering the phone and saying hello. It was a close up shot to capture her expressions as she says "hello" over the phone. Like before the shot took a few tries but we should be able to pick the best one for our final piece. For the final part of filming, we had to record a voiceover of heavy breahting that will be played over the phone call. I agreed to do the heavy breathing.
I believe filming today was very successful and that we have all the shots we need in order to improve on our grade given to our draft.
The shots we had to film were a few long shots and a few close ups. As me and Robert arrived Sarah was filming a long shot of our actress walking towards the front door a shot that we had previously done but could of been better quality.
We then moved inside the house and filmed another long shot this time of the door opening and the actress coming inside to then fall on to the floor in exaustion and shock of what had happened the previous night. This shot took various attmepts due to the hight of the camera and also the believeablity of the fall to the ground. The shot then came together when we all agreed that a pan towards the floor as the actress falls would be the best solution for our problems.
The next shot we had to to was a shot of the phone ringing, we did a close up of the phone ringing by itself for dramatic effect and to symbolise the shock of it.
We then did an over head shot of the phone ringing and the actress moving into camera view and answering the phone. Again this took a couple of trys in order for it to properly set up for the next shot. I then suggested to do the shot through the banister on the stairs so it looked as though somebody was watchign her as she picked up the telephone. After watchign the shot back i belive it looked more effective.
The final shot that we needed to film was a shot of the actress answering the phone and saying hello. It was a close up shot to capture her expressions as she says "hello" over the phone. Like before the shot took a few tries but we should be able to pick the best one for our final piece. For the final part of filming, we had to record a voiceover of heavy breahting that will be played over the phone call. I agreed to do the heavy breathing.
I believe filming today was very successful and that we have all the shots we need in order to improve on our grade given to our draft.
Thursday the 25th of March- Discussion
As we god our feedback on Tuesday it was vital we had a group discussion. We discuseed what people had said and we agreed that it would be best if we re film the ending so that there was more clue to what was happenign in the flahbacks.
We arranged as a group to meet up in half term and re film the bits that needed to be done. As a group we brainstormed other ideas that we could use and we bullet pointed shots that will make our thriller more proffesional.
As we didnt have any footage or sound to edit we speant the lesson just creating ideas and then working out how they would improve our piece of work.
We arranged as a group to meet up in half term and re film the bits that needed to be done. As a group we brainstormed other ideas that we could use and we bullet pointed shots that will make our thriller more proffesional.
As we didnt have any footage or sound to edit we speant the lesson just creating ideas and then working out how they would improve our piece of work.
Tuesday the 23rd of March- Feedback
As the Hand in date for the first draft Friday the 19th of March, we speant the two hours today watching eachothers thrillers and giving feedback.
The feedback we got was very constructive and i believe helped us to grasp an idea of what we need to do in order to improve it.
Although the lesson wasnt speant working i belive it was productive and can really benifit our groups work.
The feedback we got was very constructive and i believe helped us to grasp an idea of what we need to do in order to improve it.
Although the lesson wasnt speant working i belive it was productive and can really benifit our groups work.
Thursday the 18th of March- Sound and Editing
Todays lesson began very well as Robert had successfully mixed us a track that fitted what we wanted on the software he mentioned the previous lesson. The track was the genre we wanted and sounded like it was coming from downstairs. Catherine and Sarah both agreed that is was right to edit in to the thriller.
We began editing the sound in to the flashbacks we had edited in last week. The track Robert mixed fitted well in the thriller and by cutting the track and replacing it in we managed to make it all fit.
In the second half of the lesson we began to add in the titles, things such as producers and directors. We had some trouble making the titles fit and look good. We decided between us that having the titles black kept it simple and also looked the most proffesional.
Robert and I got carried away with the titles so decided to stay behind and do as much as we could to them in the 15 minutes we had for break.
Although we didnt finish the titles Catherine and Robert then arranged to both meet up on friday to finish them so that our piece was ready to hand in on Friday.
We began editing the sound in to the flashbacks we had edited in last week. The track Robert mixed fitted well in the thriller and by cutting the track and replacing it in we managed to make it all fit.
In the second half of the lesson we began to add in the titles, things such as producers and directors. We had some trouble making the titles fit and look good. We decided between us that having the titles black kept it simple and also looked the most proffesional.
Robert and I got carried away with the titles so decided to stay behind and do as much as we could to them in the 15 minutes we had for break.
Although we didnt finish the titles Catherine and Robert then arranged to both meet up on friday to finish them so that our piece was ready to hand in on Friday.
Tuesday the 16th of March- Editing and sound
In todays lessons, there wasnt much to do as we had edited what we could so we speand the first half of the lesson briefly going over it and making sure we hadnt missed any details that may loose us grades when it came to marking.
After going over the editing we had done on thursday, we made a few mistakes and had to make the transitions more smoothe and natural so it looked more proffresional when we viewd it.
In the second part of the lesson Robert and I went back to researching music. After looking on youtube we could not find any music that was copy right free and legal for us to use.
Robert mentioned the work that hisborther does with music so we then decided to have a look on his website for music that could be right for our thriller.
Although we couldnt find any music suitible for what we needed, Robert mentioned software that his borther uses for his mixing. We then discussed whether the timing would be possible for us to it in, we came to a conclusion that Robert would attempt to make the music for our piece in his free time outside of lesson.
After going over the editing we had done on thursday, we made a few mistakes and had to make the transitions more smoothe and natural so it looked more proffresional when we viewd it.
In the second part of the lesson Robert and I went back to researching music. After looking on youtube we could not find any music that was copy right free and legal for us to use.
Robert mentioned the work that hisborther does with music so we then decided to have a look on his website for music that could be right for our thriller.
Although we couldnt find any music suitible for what we needed, Robert mentioned software that his borther uses for his mixing. We then discussed whether the timing would be possible for us to it in, we came to a conclusion that Robert would attempt to make the music for our piece in his free time outside of lesson.
Thursday the 11th of March- Editing and sound
In todays lesson Robert and I went straight back to begin the lesson with finishing off the effects we had previously began adding on tuesdays lesson.
It was quite easy to make sure the effect looked the same as it did on the flashback we had done on tuesday. We just needed to copy how we did it and we then just played around getting the length and timing of the fade depending on the clip and how much of it is needed to be seen.
When we had added in all the flashbacks and made them look as good as we are capable of, we used head phones to listen to what it all sounded like. After listning to it, the footsteps sounded effective without any music but the flahback we had filmed sounded abit plain.
The flashbacks are of a girl being sexually assulted at a party in an upstairs bedroom. We new that to get the right effect we would need music that was of the drum and bass or dance drama. After discussing with Robert that to make it sound like the party is downstairs the sound would need to be edited to sound muffled and of bad quality, as if it was coming from downstairs.
As there are only two headphones in a pair, only tow members of the group could research music. Robert and I went on to youtube and researched music that would be suitable. This posed a problem as neither of us follow that genre of music.
To over come this proble we searched words that are relevant to the genre such as 'bassline' and 'beat'. We found a few songs that would be perfect for our thriller, but we could not use them as it would be copy right.
At the end of the lesson our titles on the thriller were not on yet and we still needed music, so we will need to wait untill thursday.
It was quite easy to make sure the effect looked the same as it did on the flashback we had done on tuesday. We just needed to copy how we did it and we then just played around getting the length and timing of the fade depending on the clip and how much of it is needed to be seen.
When we had added in all the flashbacks and made them look as good as we are capable of, we used head phones to listen to what it all sounded like. After listning to it, the footsteps sounded effective without any music but the flahback we had filmed sounded abit plain.
The flashbacks are of a girl being sexually assulted at a party in an upstairs bedroom. We new that to get the right effect we would need music that was of the drum and bass or dance drama. After discussing with Robert that to make it sound like the party is downstairs the sound would need to be edited to sound muffled and of bad quality, as if it was coming from downstairs.
As there are only two headphones in a pair, only tow members of the group could research music. Robert and I went on to youtube and researched music that would be suitable. This posed a problem as neither of us follow that genre of music.
To over come this proble we searched words that are relevant to the genre such as 'bassline' and 'beat'. We found a few songs that would be perfect for our thriller, but we could not use them as it would be copy right.
At the end of the lesson our titles on the thriller were not on yet and we still needed music, so we will need to wait untill thursday.
Tuesday the 9th of March- Editing
Today we have continued with editing the clips we have taken on sunday. The footage we have is very useful and with the right editing it could potentially come out really good.
Firstly we captured the shots so that we could use them in our editing. We then had to re name the different clips so we didnt get mixed up when adding them into the stuff we have already edited.
Robert and I agreed on the order that the flashbacks should come up in when we added them into the thriller. After asking the Girls we began placing the different shots in where they needed to be.
After watching the whole clip we realised that the flashbacks did not make sense and that it just looked jumpy and didnt flowe very well. To over come this we looked at different effects that we could use to symbolise a flashback in the sequence.
We tryed many different ones but found one eventually that we thought looked good. After adding it to one of the flashback we agreed that the flahback were to short for the effect to be that long. To over come this there is a way you can shorten the time of the effect.
We then had our effect and after shorterning it, it looked very effective and proffesional.
Because we had done such alot today it wasnt possible for us to add the effect we had found to all the flashback in our sequence so we will begin thursdays lesson by doing all of them.
Firstly we captured the shots so that we could use them in our editing. We then had to re name the different clips so we didnt get mixed up when adding them into the stuff we have already edited.
Robert and I agreed on the order that the flashbacks should come up in when we added them into the thriller. After asking the Girls we began placing the different shots in where they needed to be.
After watching the whole clip we realised that the flashbacks did not make sense and that it just looked jumpy and didnt flowe very well. To over come this we looked at different effects that we could use to symbolise a flashback in the sequence.
We tryed many different ones but found one eventually that we thought looked good. After adding it to one of the flashback we agreed that the flahback were to short for the effect to be that long. To over come this there is a way you can shorten the time of the effect.
We then had our effect and after shorterning it, it looked very effective and proffesional.
Because we had done such alot today it wasnt possible for us to add the effect we had found to all the flashback in our sequence so we will begin thursdays lesson by doing all of them.
Thursday 25 March 2010
Sunday 7th of March- Final filming
Today we met up at catherines house to film the rest of our project. We had both of actors organised but there was a cross between wires on communication, so we began a little bit later then first intended.
After setting up the room, we explained to the actors what they were needing to do so we began filming. We had to shoot around 7 shots, but we had to shoot a few times more as the footage wouldnt look as real as intended if it wasnt done right so we tryed out each shot a few times more to ensure we had the best shots we could get.
I think that the choice of actors were good and the shots now look realistic and like they were meant to.
We hit a few problems with the filming, such as we realised that the actresses tights wouldnt be on after the rape had taken place. We over came problems and the shots we now have are to our expectations
After setting up the room, we explained to the actors what they were needing to do so we began filming. We had to shoot around 7 shots, but we had to shoot a few times more as the footage wouldnt look as real as intended if it wasnt done right so we tryed out each shot a few times more to ensure we had the best shots we could get.
I think that the choice of actors were good and the shots now look realistic and like they were meant to.
We hit a few problems with the filming, such as we realised that the actresses tights wouldnt be on after the rape had taken place. We over came problems and the shots we now have are to our expectations
tuesday 2nd of march- First lesson of final piece editing
We hadnt finished our entire filming but we had enough to begin editing. whilst Robert and catherine began editing, me and sarah went to chilwell fields to take photographs and videos of the fields to debate weather we had got the right lighting the first time. After getting a few shots in the brighter light, we realised that the darker light would look better. To ensure that we were right the shots we took were identical to the ones we had previosly filmed.
We returned to our lesson and uploaded the videos we had shot. After looking at them on a bigger screen we decided as a group the shots were alot better the first time.
For the second part of the lesson me and Robert began to edit our film together. Using the shots we had we made a guideline of our work and left gaps where other footage should be put in.
The lesson was very successful as we got our project up and running and have began working on everything for the final project.
We returned to our lesson and uploaded the videos we had shot. After looking at them on a bigger screen we decided as a group the shots were alot better the first time.
For the second part of the lesson me and Robert began to edit our film together. Using the shots we had we made a guideline of our work and left gaps where other footage should be put in.
The lesson was very successful as we got our project up and running and have began working on everything for the final project.
Saturday 27th of Febuary- First day of final piece filming
Today was our first day of filming, We met up on chillwell fields at 6AM in order to get the lighting and atmosphere we were trying to grasp. We had started abit to early as it was dark when we had planned to begin, we began filming as soon as the light was possible to film in.
Today we were filming one of the scenes for our final piece, in this sequence it was our actress walking through chilwell fields on her own coming back from a party. Our actress is made to be distressed and upset because she had been raped at this party. In order to get this effect we ripped holes into her tights and made her costume messy to make it look real.
The fliming went well and we got some good footage that we will be using for our final piece. The lighting and atmosphere was what we wanted and it was a succesful trip and worth getting up at that time to film.
Today we were filming one of the scenes for our final piece, in this sequence it was our actress walking through chilwell fields on her own coming back from a party. Our actress is made to be distressed and upset because she had been raped at this party. In order to get this effect we ripped holes into her tights and made her costume messy to make it look real.
The fliming went well and we got some good footage that we will be using for our final piece. The lighting and atmosphere was what we wanted and it was a succesful trip and worth getting up at that time to film.
Tuesday 23 March 2010
Tuesday 23rd of febuary 2010- First day of piece filming
Today we began to start filming, all though we did not film our proper thriller, we used member of our group to recreate what we are doing in the actual filming. We speand the lesson filming scenes that we were thinking of using in order to make sure that lighting, location and sound would work in the actual filming.
After doing location research, i felt it was important to take photogrpahs of the location for the rape scene. After taking photographs of the location i then worked on costume and took photographs of this aswell.
I think the lesson was successful as we are now ready for filming it on the up coming saturday. We have uploaded the shots we have done and edited them together as a preview before we film the proper thing.
After doing location research, i felt it was important to take photogrpahs of the location for the rape scene. After taking photographs of the location i then worked on costume and took photographs of this aswell.
I think the lesson was successful as we are now ready for filming it on the up coming saturday. We have uploaded the shots we have done and edited them together as a preview before we film the proper thing.
Questionnaire
Another part of our planning would be the questionnaire. Sarah asked 10 individual college students what they though would make a great thriller, and here are the answers:
1. Do you prefer fast pace or slow for a thriller?
Fast – 4
Slow –6
2. Would you prefer lots of dialogue or less
Lots of dialogue - 3
Not so much - 7
3. Would you prefer a loud soundtrack behind the film?
Yes – 6
No - 4
4. Male or Female lead?
Male – 2
Female – 8
5. Would you prefer a large or small cast?
Large –3
Small –7
6. Would you have a mostly dark or light environment?
Dark –9
Light – 1
7. Which font do you prefer for opening credits?
Century Gothic - 1
Monotype Corsiva - 8
Papyrus -
Segoe Script - 1
Trebuchet MS -
8. Do you prefer opening titles to be?
Bold - 2
Underlined - 1
Italic - 5
Mix - 2
9. Where would you prefer it to be set?
Forest - 2
House -
Town – 1
Field - 3
Abandoned places – 4
10. How long would you prefer each credit to be on?
3 Seconds - 6
5 Seconds - 3
5+ Seconds - 1
1. Do you prefer fast pace or slow for a thriller?
Fast – 4
Slow –6
2. Would you prefer lots of dialogue or less
Lots of dialogue - 3
Not so much - 7
3. Would you prefer a loud soundtrack behind the film?
Yes – 6
No - 4
4. Male or Female lead?
Male – 2
Female – 8
5. Would you prefer a large or small cast?
Large –3
Small –7
6. Would you have a mostly dark or light environment?
Dark –9
Light – 1
7. Which font do you prefer for opening credits?
Century Gothic - 1
Monotype Corsiva - 8
Papyrus -
Segoe Script - 1
Trebuchet MS -
8. Do you prefer opening titles to be?
Bold - 2
Underlined - 1
Italic - 5
Mix - 2
9. Where would you prefer it to be set?
Forest - 2
House -
Town – 1
Field - 3
Abandoned places – 4
10. How long would you prefer each credit to be on?
3 Seconds - 6
5 Seconds - 3
5+ Seconds - 1
Storyboard Task
This is the storyboard of the Thriller opening we are making. The storyboard contains shots needed, angles and storylines that will feature in what we are filming. By having the storyboard it will help us no what we need to do in order to grasp the effect we are going for when presenting it to our audience.
Costumes, actors and props
This is taken from catherines blog, she has writen up the work we had done. we all contributed to casting and ideas for props and costume.
Main character: Teenage (16/17) girl. Medium height, curvy.
- A short tight body con skirt.
- A tight blank vest top.
- Black fish net tights?
- Coloured high heels?
- White Handbag.
- Blue layered thin jacket.
- Make-up: Pale face with with smudged dark red lipstick, black mascara smudged around eyes and a few streams down the face with a slight hint of coloured eye shadow.
We wanted this costume and make-up to make sure that the young girl looks like she has just been to a party, yet at the same time looks as though she has had a rough night the night before. By having ripped tights it looks as though the young girl has been in some sort of trouble and by matching this with running make-up and a pale face, she will look upset and scared.
Elle Pemberton - 17.
Elle is a part of an acting group named Rama and therefore I thought she would be a good actress for our piece. She has been a friend of mine for a while and I knew I could trust and rely on her. Also, her experience was a great advantage for us.
Rapist: Older guy (19/20). Medium height, slight muscle.
- Dark skinny-ish jeans.
- Green t-shirt.
- Large Nike trainers.
- Longish dark hair.
Jake Frost - 17.
Jake is doing A level Drama at George Spencer College. Because he also has experience and is a good friend of mine, Rob's and Aidan's it was easy for us to be able to rely on him and also to be able to easily ask him to help us out.
Props
We also need just a few props for our film. There aren't very many because it isn't the props that actually explains how the film works out, it's more the answers.
Therefore we will only need:
- Keys: for when Ellie will open her front door to get home and feels a hand on her shoulder.
- Bottle: for when Ellie takes a swig in a flashback to show the audience that she had been drinking and could be quite drunk.
- Bag: for Ellie to search through to find her keys when she gets to her front door and also just generally because teenagers carry handbags.
- Tights: not just costume as it is a prop for one of the scenes in the piece when Ellie takes her tights off just after she has been raped.
Main character: Teenage (16/17) girl. Medium height, curvy.
- A short tight body con skirt.
- A tight blank vest top.
- Black fish net tights?
- Coloured high heels?
- White Handbag.
- Blue layered thin jacket.
- Make-up: Pale face with with smudged dark red lipstick, black mascara smudged around eyes and a few streams down the face with a slight hint of coloured eye shadow.
We wanted this costume and make-up to make sure that the young girl looks like she has just been to a party, yet at the same time looks as though she has had a rough night the night before. By having ripped tights it looks as though the young girl has been in some sort of trouble and by matching this with running make-up and a pale face, she will look upset and scared.
Elle Pemberton - 17.
Elle is a part of an acting group named Rama and therefore I thought she would be a good actress for our piece. She has been a friend of mine for a while and I knew I could trust and rely on her. Also, her experience was a great advantage for us.
Rapist: Older guy (19/20). Medium height, slight muscle.
- Dark skinny-ish jeans.
- Green t-shirt.
- Large Nike trainers.
- Longish dark hair.
Jake Frost - 17.
Jake is doing A level Drama at George Spencer College. Because he also has experience and is a good friend of mine, Rob's and Aidan's it was easy for us to be able to rely on him and also to be able to easily ask him to help us out.
Props
We also need just a few props for our film. There aren't very many because it isn't the props that actually explains how the film works out, it's more the answers.
Therefore we will only need:
- Keys: for when Ellie will open her front door to get home and feels a hand on her shoulder.
- Bottle: for when Ellie takes a swig in a flashback to show the audience that she had been drinking and could be quite drunk.
- Bag: for Ellie to search through to find her keys when she gets to her front door and also just generally because teenagers carry handbags.
- Tights: not just costume as it is a prop for one of the scenes in the piece when Ellie takes her tights off just after she has been raped.
Thursday 25 February 2010
Shots
This is a plan created by Sarah to ensure that our group is ready for filming on saturday.
Field Shots
1. Across the bridge, long shot of girl walking towards bridge.
2. Close up of girls legs walking across the bridge.
3. Long low angle shot of girl walking (down path)
4. Side close up of girl crying, still walking down path, near gap leading to next field.
5. Close up on ripped tights straight on, girl walking to camera.
6. Low angle long side shot panning as girl walks, showing street.
7. Girl walks past camera to front door, camera pans.
8. Mid shot of girl at her door, side mid-shot.
9. Close up of girl fumbling in her bag.
10. Hand held camera walking up behind girl.
11. Close up of girls head and shoulder, hand comes up behind her.
12. Close up of her turning around.
13. Pan, eye level, empty street.
Flashback Shots
1. Girl with bottle, drinking. Mid-shot side.
2. Girl feet to right of frame, guys feet come in from left side.
3. Girl being pushed onto bed, Mid-shot from side.
4. Girl lying down, guys crawls up and heads out of shot, Mid-shot of bodies.
5. Close up of her leg, guy rips tights. Hand slides in from top of frame.
6. Long shot eyeline match of door closing.
Field Shots
1. Across the bridge, long shot of girl walking towards bridge.
2. Close up of girls legs walking across the bridge.
3. Long low angle shot of girl walking (down path)
4. Side close up of girl crying, still walking down path, near gap leading to next field.
5. Close up on ripped tights straight on, girl walking to camera.
6. Low angle long side shot panning as girl walks, showing street.
7. Girl walks past camera to front door, camera pans.
8. Mid shot of girl at her door, side mid-shot.
9. Close up of girl fumbling in her bag.
10. Hand held camera walking up behind girl.
11. Close up of girls head and shoulder, hand comes up behind her.
12. Close up of her turning around.
13. Pan, eye level, empty street.
Flashback Shots
1. Girl with bottle, drinking. Mid-shot side.
2. Girl feet to right of frame, guys feet come in from left side.
3. Girl being pushed onto bed, Mid-shot from side.
4. Girl lying down, guys crawls up and heads out of shot, Mid-shot of bodies.
5. Close up of her leg, guy rips tights. Hand slides in from top of frame.
6. Long shot eyeline match of door closing.
Location shots
These are some more location pictures for our thriller. these photographs were taken by robert Mills and me.
Tuesday 2 February 2010
Brainstorm
This is a Brainstorm that me and my group created before begining the filming and editing prosess. The still image shows the ideas that what for the preliminary task before we began. We stuck with most of our origional ideas. And when looking back i think the ideas had the desired effect when finished.
28/01/10 filming and editing
Problems that we had with video from last time continued, as the acter we used the previous lesson was busy and we couldnt use him for the film. To over coem this we filmed subsitute shots so that the film was still as believable and effective.
An idea that i had was to film only someones hands and legs instead of there body and face, when a clip of a person turning a chair around should have been. After filming and uploading this clip, it turned out this was a more effective shot then the previous one we had.
After re filming the shots that we needed, we had to edit the mising parts in and ensure that the time line is cut and edited correctly. We speant a long time cutting the clip so it ran smoothly and didnt look jumpy. The use of the different shots make the film effective.
After watchign back and editing, we decided that the sequence didnt quite look right. To solve this problem we changed the entire thing from colour into black and white in order to make the film more mysterious and effective.
We have finished our editing and filming and next lesson we have to convert the file etc so that it can be seen by our teachers.
An idea that i had was to film only someones hands and legs instead of there body and face, when a clip of a person turning a chair around should have been. After filming and uploading this clip, it turned out this was a more effective shot then the previous one we had.
After re filming the shots that we needed, we had to edit the mising parts in and ensure that the time line is cut and edited correctly. We speant a long time cutting the clip so it ran smoothly and didnt look jumpy. The use of the different shots make the film effective.
After watchign back and editing, we decided that the sequence didnt quite look right. To solve this problem we changed the entire thing from colour into black and white in order to make the film more mysterious and effective.
We have finished our editing and filming and next lesson we have to convert the file etc so that it can be seen by our teachers.
26/01/10 Filming and editing lesson
In todays lesson we began filming our premilinary task right at the beginig. In order to make the acting in the clip believable, we persuaded an other student from the college who takes drama to act for us. As i was the camera man and co-director it was important that the shot we used were effective.
We used a large various of camera shot to give our piece a bit of difference. We used over the shoulder shots, point of view shot, close ups, mid shots and point of view shots etc. To ensure that the sequence ran smoothly we planned out how the edits would be used before we filmed.
When editing we made the edits run smoothly so it was effective and looked like it was all the same movement just shot on various cameras.
When we uploaded our clips two of the filmed clips came out wrong and fuzzy on the screen. As we did not have time to re shoot the clips in this lesson we decided to edit what we had and re shoot the broken clips on thursday.
We used a large various of camera shot to give our piece a bit of difference. We used over the shoulder shots, point of view shot, close ups, mid shots and point of view shots etc. To ensure that the sequence ran smoothly we planned out how the edits would be used before we filmed.
When editing we made the edits run smoothly so it was effective and looked like it was all the same movement just shot on various cameras.
When we uploaded our clips two of the filmed clips came out wrong and fuzzy on the screen. As we did not have time to re shoot the clips in this lesson we decided to edit what we had and re shoot the broken clips on thursday.
Thursday 21 January 2010
Filming lesson
In todays lesson, after creating the storyboard of our filming excersice. We then began to film the main parts of our sequence: close ups, long shots and pans we will film in the lesson that we have on tuesday. We also need to edit the clips together. The lesson was succesful as we have got alot done and also learned more about the filming equipment.
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