This task will be produced by Amy Liddell discussing her journey during her AS media coursework
We decided our groups. Our group consists of Amy (myself), Emily and Tamsin. We produced a survey which we believed would be beneficial to our work and deconstructions so we would know what to put in the film that the audience would respond most to.
In class we analysed breakfast at Tiffany’s and sent our analysed results to each other. A couple of possible soundtracks were also decided from questionnaire results: Róisín Murphy – Ruby Blue http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLr1IlecUIU The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – Immigrant Song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0bD4ts8eWY
We looked at the results of the survey and decided that although it was most popular, comedy was going to be too difficult to achieve due the fact this was the opening of a film. The second and third favorites were Action and Rom- Com, both weren’t suitable due to lack of actors/decent story line and a non-existent budget. Therefor we came to the conclusion that the best genre to base our opening scene on would be Thriller. We also decided that we had experience on a hybrid version of this genre, Psychological-thriller as Emily and I used it in our preliminary task. The top favorite choices from the surveys didn’t all fit into this genre however some did, these will be the ones that our group are analysing. - Shawshank Redemption - Fight club - Shutter island - Inception We also viewed the results from the least favorites and we will all be deconstructing the opening scenes/ scenes where the genre is clearer to see why audiences may not of liked the particular film. We will be looking at: -Black Swan -Saw -Lord of the Rings (scene where Gollum becomes schizophrenic) -Omen
In this lesson I looked at what type of editing software we could use (due to the fact that in my preliminary task Windows MovieMaker didn’t achieve the standard that the group wanted). I spent roughly 40 minutes viewing the Adobe Premier Pro and viewing videos on YouTube that explained how to use the software. Emily looked at what we needed to do e.g. who is doing what deconstructions, when conventions are due in for etc. and she recorded it in a planner. Tamsin wrote up the diary, which we have now all used to write in entries for our blogs, and did some deconstructions.
In today’s lesson we created our blogs, this took a fair amount of time as at first the site confused me, however it was easy to get your head around. We also came to the conclusion that we were going to definitely do a Psychological Thriller and started discussing possible story lines and inter-textual references we could use from films we had previously seen.
Today (not in a media lesson) I used my study period to add additional pages to the menu, these are Pre-production, Production and Post-production. As I continue throughout my coursework I will add sub pages to each one so that there is a clear overview of where everything is. My diary entries will continue to be found on the Home page.
‘Never leave coursework until the last minute’, is what I shall say to myself from now on. Just analysed all the surveys and done one deconstruction and half way through the second, going to try and keep on top of things better and try to not get distracted by wanting everything to be perfect as I spent way to long trying to make sure boxes on pie charts were the right level instead of analysing openings.
In today’s lesson Tamsin and I discussed our target audience. Emily wasn’t in today so we haven’t had her input; however me and Tamsin are confident from our genre choice and survey results that we will attract a large audience therefore we are aiming our film at 16 to 35 years olds, or even older dependent on whether they enjoy thrillers or not. We also e-mailed eachother deconstructions of opening titles that we have done and said what ones we shall also do. Our deconstructions of opening titles alll look at different genres to view how opening titles vary between genre.
In today’s lesson we discussed the narrative of our movie, we also thought about possible locations and what films we could bass our on. Actors Ask drama students (experienced – look more professional, rule on problems that occurred in preliminary task). ■Josie ■Sarah ■Jack Inter textual reference? Mentioned ‘Shawshank Redemption’ and how all lights go off one by one in the prison – recreate in factory? Setting Machinery, Emily’s dad works in a factory (already have permission to use), road my mill in town ‘Allinson’ scary lighting, ASK for permission! Just an idea don’t have to follow this setting however would be different to other media students. Other Ideas -Leave on a cliff hanger? (Black out, sound effects massive drop or rise in sound?) -Montage editing- show previous life over short amount of time- waking up? -Drugs – younger audience (maybe too simple storyline) -Mentally ill – paranoia, trauma? (Interesting storyline) Inspiration for narrative: Black swan- focuses on female mind, look at reviews due to unpopularity in survey). Hide and Seek- experience on trauma how someone becomes schizophrenic because of it (flashbacks).
In today’s lesson we carried on looking at various ideas relating to our film. We also looked at how to create a viewer profile which will help us decide who our target audience is. In the lesson we came to the conclusion we are aiming our film at 16-35 year olds and our primary audience are females, due to the strong female role; which subverts the stereotype (we have chosen this due to market research results). The ideas I came up with in my free association were: MES- ■dark/light contrasting colour of characters and setting ■monochrome (Girl with a dragon Tattoo) ■location (factory, stage-spotlight ‘Black swan’, park?) CHARACTERS- ■main character- women(young) perhaps a teenager ■other characters, need to conclude how the story will climax and end NARRATIVE- ■choose between family/life ■confusion- mental illness/trauma ■tragic? twist?- main character causes problems for herself ■women is running away from someone-just jogging (‘silence of the lambs’ INTERTEXTUALITY- ■Black Swan ■Shutter Island ■Hide & seek ■godsend ■what lies beneath ■se7en ■silence of the lambs ■all of the above will be deconstructed to gain a better understanding We also thought about actors/setting -For the ballet narrative we would ask Jess if she wanted to help as she goes to a performing arts school. As we weren’t certain of the sex of our leading character and whether we were going to subvert the stereotypical gender we also contemplated a pupil from our school called Lucas who can dance. For the setting and to keep costs down we also considered filming it in school and using the school stage and have everything dark apart from a spotlight. -The other idea, ‘silence of the lambs’, which included a forest, we thought about using the forest behind Birchwood High School in Bishops Stortford. However we would have to ask for permission and it would be more difficult to control setting due to it being outside and the weather/lighting won’t be able to be controlled.
In today’s lesson we came to the conclusion that the use of the factory doesn’t suit our genre and would be too complicated to use as actors wouldn’t be available. Therefore we decided to do a mix of the films ‘Black Swan’ and ‘Silence of the lambs’, out of Black swan we will use the perfectionist side and we will try to recreate the opening sequence from Silence of the lambs. Both films will adapt around a gymnast where we will be able to film at a simple gymnast studio in Bishop’s Stortford. We watched a video of what the studio looks like and I also did research of what these gymnasts do examples: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPlWrUP-IyY & http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRmS-x271M8 (absolutely love the soundtrack to this, interesting contrast to the elegant movements- something to look at with Evanscene’s music)
In today’s lesson our group got together and discussed what we all have on our blogs. We have ‘Black Swan’, ‘Momento’, ‘Seven’ and ‘Silence of the lambs’ in genre deconstuctions. For opening titles we have ‘Hide and seek’, ‘Girl with a dragon tattoo’, ‘Forest Gump’, ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ and ‘Shawshank redemption’. Emily is going to do ‘American Phsyco’ and ‘Taxi driver’ for genre deconstructions and ‘Friends with benefits’ for an opening title. Tamsin is going to do two genre deconstructions and one fantasy opening title. I will deconstruct ‘Shutter island’ and ‘What lies beneath’ for genre and ‘pulp fiction’ for opening titles. We have got a wide variety of genres for opening titles to make sure that the conventions of titles are correct. We also changed the storyline as we will no longer do gymnastics due to difficulties when filming. We discused various intertextual refernces between deconstructed films to try and get an idea of a possible narrative. We liked the idea of the film ‘Momento’ where the ending was at the beginning and thought of the setting of a graveyard.
In today’s lesson we discussed group roles, the plot of our film and who we will choose for acting. We also had a discussion with mr Lupton about what we will do. We disscussed creating a genre hybrid such as a Thriller Psychological/Horror to attract a wider audience. We also need to come to a conclusion how it will end. Group roles: We came to the conclusion that the directing, editing, casting, creation of the storyboard, shot list, dates/planning, permission for music/filming, MES analysis and risk assesment will be shared between our group therefore we all get an idea of how our film is created.
Today received a text from Emily saying that Jess is injured and that she will no longer be able to star in our film. Due date is on Friday for all the pre-production material therefore problems are arising due to this little hiccup. I have asked a girl called Holly Richards however she doesn’t want to be in it so she has given me a name of a girl that dances so will find out tomorrow whether she will do it or not. Entire point of this post is the fact that we are struggling to find an actress to play the role and we have to do storyboard/locations/risk assessment/sound/script/shot list all by Friday and none of us know whether we can go ahead with the narrative or not.
Today we have managed to agree an extension for pre-production to when we return after the Christmas holidys. This has allowed us to come up with a new narrative which will be easily achievable, the new storyline involves our runner Will Snook and if any problems arise with his acting (not making it due to an injury) then we have asked Teddy Treble who is a talented rugby player to take Will’s space.
Today we discussed what we needed to do for production. I need to ask permission for the use of props in the sportshall and also need to make sure there is a spare slot free next week for filming. I have also asked our two actors (Mr Lupton and Will Snook) whether they are free and they are; so by the looks of things we will begin filming next week. I would rather begin early with production so that there is no rush and if any issues appear than there will be time to fix them.
Today and tomorrow I will be completing all pre-production work so that the film production can take place over the next few weeks. Today I e-mailed Mr Harris (a PE teacher) about the use of the sports hall and am awaiting his reply, once this has been granted I will hopefully receive another e-mail from my group on when they are both free. Once I know both of these things I will e-mail Will and Mr Lupton to check that it all fits in with when they are able to act (which so far seems to be next Wednesday- 15th January, this may cause problems as we have our media mock the day after), all in all this will be a bit of a waiting game hence I am trying to organise it a while before the deadline to prevent any rushing that could cause the film to lack quality.
Today we filmed our opening sequence, this went well and we managed to use the gym as the sporthall was occupied. I managed to get a stage in the middle of the room to get a high angle, we also managed to get some props e.g. hurdels. All of this footage needs to be uploaded onto a software for editing, we will most likely use Adobe Premier Pro.
Today we thought about the idea of adding footage from an olympic runner in action and then a voice over by George (Will) discussing how he wants to achieve the same thing. Therefore the script needs to be adjusted and the storyboards also need changing due to the fact we changed the location and didn’t include some of the outside shots.
Discussing intertextual reference with the group, instead of re-shooting the film to create a shot that links to another film, we have decided to do a sound motif from the film Rocky.
Today i went through all the footage and renamed each piece to make it easier when editing to find specific bits. I also put all the footage that was useful into a seperate folder so perhaps we can make a bloopers page later on in production if we have time. Over the next three days I will be editing the footage to make a rough cut; I also need to have a look at what footage needs re-recording due to the dialogue having an echo. I also need to find some footage of a professional runner to add into the opening sequence and I also need to record George’s voiceover.
This evening I created a rough cut of our entire film, due to the footage not being in the right format for MovieMaker and Adobe is constantly crashing. Therefore i did some research and found an online site called WeVideo, to start with the site confused me however I have been able to produce a great quality film and will continue editing it until I am happy with the outcome.
In today’s meeting we discussed the film and how the rough cut went. We came across the problems that the genre wasn’t clear enough and therefore we decided we need to re-film some more close ups and establishing shots. During editing we need a new soundtrack due to our intertextual music having a copyright. Angela Liddell is a excellent keyboard player and will produce some classical music that builds up; this links to our target audience as it will make the main character seem more sophisticated and therefore appealing to the female audience. Going back to the film we based ours on (Black Swan) we will create a similar atmosphere through lighting and the music will link.
Today me and Emily went round Will Snook’s house and filmed the remaining parts of the film. We had a few issues with the camera and tripod however managed to get some footage that is essential in the development of the opening sequence which hopefully will show that we have taken the feedback from the class and survey takers into consideration.
Today I adjusted the intertextual reference and story line once again in response to our feedback. I am going to attempt to use Emily’s camera in order to upload the footage onto movie maker in order to allow myself to edit the final cut. Will keep blog updated on how everything goes.
After about an hour of leaving the disk from Emily’s camera we have ended up with digital files. These however appear smaller onto the screen of the Movie Maker window. The software I have on my computer isn’t compatible therefore i need to download a different one, making this process rather time consuming and difficult.
Today it was planned to film for the third time, we have decided to re-shoot the scene in the car in order to show the emotions of the characters more clearly. We want to do this in order to gain sympathy for the main character. However Emily’s camera didn’t work due to the disk not functioning properly therefore we are filming tomorrow and hopefully things will run smoothly. The music is coming on well as the new soundtrack is being produced by a friend of mine Ellen Fitzgibon and the choral sounds are being recorded around 3:30 today by Jess Rotch and Gemma Myers; two exceptional singers. This should be ready by afterschool tomorrow in order to complete editing by Friday.
Today and over the next few days I am completing all editing in order to right the evaluation correctly. We never filmed for the third time as we felt the car scene dragged down the tension that the opening sequence was building therefore focused more on the montage etc. Hopefully the final cleaning up of the 2nd rough cut will create an effective final version, finally the task set out is coming to an end and I am feeling this has been a great experience in order to learn about how films are created and the problems and achievements that come with them.
Today I uploaded the final cut to YouTube and will now start my transcript evaluation and the creative task.
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