Tuesday 30 November 2010

Deja Vu Inspiration

After thinking hard about what i wanted my film to be like, i decided that the film Deja Vu would be suitable for what i aimed to produce. I will use similar camera angles and shots along with similar methods of creating tension such as; through music.

Cellular Inspiration

Cellular was my intial inspiratobn for my film opening. I wanted to create a similar thriller/action film and have a running away scene. However, i have now decided to only use some of the camera angles and shots used in the film as i feel they will be appropriate for my film.

Film Storyboard

School scene location shot

This image shows the gate of the school. This is where we are having Chloe approach from the right hand side on the right path. Then we are having the school kids coming from the left hand side on the path to the left of the greenary. Chloe will then merge into the school kids group and everything will become a blur.

Thursday 25 November 2010

Camera angles/shots

After the perliminary task,  Molly and I decided that panning shots and extreme/close ups are very effective when creating tension and giving the scene a theme of mystery. We aim to use panning in almost every scene and we will zoom in on certain points of the frame, which will be the bag in most scenes as we want it to stand out more than anything else, while at the same time we don't want it to be ther centre of attention in every scene but we need the audience to be aware of it. We will use an extreme close up of Chloe's hand holding the bag in the last scene at the Grand Arcade shopping centre. This will create tension and we will film Chloe dropping the bag whilst still in this extreme close up and then we will quickly zoom out to a long shot of chloe walking away and then we will perform another close up of Chloe turning round and smiling. This shot will be edited so it is in slow motion will will create tension and then suddenly Chloe dissapears and everything goes quickly again and the crowd are in the shot and everything speeds up to normal speed again and the bag is in the last shot and everything goes silent and the ticking remains.

Script

Our film is all about the music used and the gestures and movements of the actress. We also aim to create a theme of mystery and tension through the camera angles and shots we use. As a result we have decided to use no script at all and we feel this will maintain the theme of mystery and will make teh audience more alert and curious to know what is coming next.

Props

Props is an aspect of the film that we do not have much control over, other than the props that Chloe will have. We are giving chloe a rucksack and she will carry this in every scene. The bag will be black like her coat and she will be carrying it in her hand and not on her back to maintain that mysterious look to her. The bag will be the main prop on the film and we aim to make it stand out in each scene. We aim to make the audience wonder why the bag isn't on her back? Is it heavy? What's in it?

Costumes

We thought very hard about costumes Chloe would wear and finally came to the conclusion that she would wear a black coat and black tights. This will make her look a bit different to everyone else in the shot; for example the school children; however, it will not make her stand out too much as we want people to maybe see her in the second or last scene and we aim to give her a mysterious look. She will be wearing dark make-up and possibly wearing a cotton hat which will maintain that mysterious feel.

Actors/Actresses

Orginally we decided to use myself as the main actor for teh opening. However we then realised that this would mean i wouldn't be abel to film enough as i would be in the film. As a result of this we spoke to one of our friends and she said she would love to feature. She is very good at drama and she seems very determined to be our actress. Chloe will be in almost every scene and she will be wearing the same black coat in each one. She will not be wearing incredibly obvious clothing and make up as we want her to blend with teh crowd and as we go through the scenes, she will become more obvious and will stand out more through choice of shots.

Target Audience

After deciding on the genre and synopsis of the film, Molly and I decided on the target audience for our film. We aim to attract a wide variety of audiences although the main group would obviously be thriller fans. We feel this film will be watched by a wider audience than just thriller fans. Paranormal Activity atrtacted a much wider audience than people who enjoy thrillers. It was promoted as being very scary so everyone wanted to see it and experience the thrills. This is what we aim to do with our film and specifically the opening. We aim to make the opening end on a cliff-hanger which alone, will attract a wider audience and make people want to go and see it.


Overall we feel the film will be mainly targeted at people who enjoy watching thrillers.

Monday 15 November 2010

Locations

This is a shot of the Grand Arcade during rush hour. As you can see there are lots of people scattered about which is why we thought this would be a prime location for our final scene of the opening and we aim to leave the audience hanging with an effective cliff-hanger ending. We aim to film at about 2pm on a Saturday in Decemeber when the Grand Arcade shoppping centre will be packed. We will set up the camera in teh centre of the arcade and capture a slow motion shot of people walking through and they will be blurred for a tension effect, and also for privacy purposes.






We will then film Chloe walking through a crowd and she will be clear with the crowd remaining blurred. She will then drop her bag in the centre and the ticking noise would be getting incresaingly louder at this point until finally the crowd noise goes silent and the tickingremains.


We have decided that we may encounter problems when filming in the arcade as Molly's brother was told to delete images he took from the arcade for his media project. I am friends with one of the security guards who works there on Saturday's so we are going to make a trip to Cambridge soon and discuss this with him and make sure we are able to do it and when.
We have chosen to use Audley End train station for capturing business men and woman coming off the train during the 6pm rush hour on a weeknight. We will be shooting from the botton of the stairs of platform 1 or along the trains side as people get off to capture that rushed effect. Chloe will be placed, again in the background but a little more obvious this time. She will be wearing the same black coat throughout the production and will be carrying the same bag. We will focus on the bag as the secenes progress. The ticking noise will still be ticking and slightly louder in this scene.
We have chosen Saffron Walden County High School too shoot our first few scenes. This is a prime location for setting the scene for our film as it enables us to introduce Chloe Cremins (The main character) to besubtly placed in the background. We will film students coming out of school at the end of the day near the bus collection point as this is when there will be the largest concentration of students in one place. This will enable us to capture a slow motion shot of students rushing about and we aim to put Chloe in the background so she is not too noticable but she will be visual. The ticking noise will begin in this scene quietly and will increase in volume throughout the film.

Friday 12 November 2010

Comment on blog

yo Big-tymer sick blog you got here, the font and the black colours are very professional looking and you have a lot of posts so it looks like you have done lots of work, the only negative on the blog is that there is a few typos every now and then. But overall it is a very professional blog with lots of work.

New Idea For Our Film

We originally decided on filming the film with me as the main character but we felt that this may mean that i would not be able to film as much as Molly due to the fact i would be in the film acting. As a result we have now asked one of our friends to play the part of the terrorist. She is vert talented at drama and is happy playing thsi role for us. She would be appearing in every scene, however in the first few scenes, which will be the train station and the school she will be subtly placed into the scene rather than being very visual. This will create tension and then she will appear in the last few scenes in the shopping scene wearing all black and she will then drop the bag on the floor which is when everythign goes quiet and this is when the ticking becomes louder. The ticking will be played throughout the film and will get louder through each scene.

Tuesday 9 November 2010

Discussion in todays lesson

All lesson we carried on planning how we will film our film and drew final ideas together and we now have a good idea of what we want to do. We have finished the synopsis and have decided that i will be the main character in the film.

Sunday 7 November 2010

Our film opening idea

After lots of discussion and research Molly Muckle and I have decided on a synopsis and therefore a opening to our film.


The opening to the film will include slow motion shots of people getting off a train in rush hour, kids laughing and playing in a playground, people in the market square when it is busy and then we will have shots from a plane looking down on these places and then referring back down to a camera on the ground. We will also film a digital type clock ticking away which will be either on the main characters watch or in another frame. We will then film the main character who is a terrorist in every shot but subtly. We will then see him more obviously as the shots progress and eventually we see him nervously walking into a shopping centre and dropping a bag and then the timer runs out and everything goes quiet.


This idea is our final idea, however we will most probably modify it slightly over time if we feel it needs to be improved or changed for whatever reason.

Deja Vu Inspiration

Over the weekend i watched the film Deja Vu and the opening scene really inspired me for my opening to a film. I have now decided that i will base my film around the opening to the film Deja Vu and i will create a similar scene. The oepning scene consists of slow motion shots of everyhting really, from public transport to more specifically the marines boarding a party boat to celebrate with family for whatever reason. It is clear from the way the director has created this opening, that something bad is going to happen but it is not clear what.


For my film i aim to create an opening that also uses slow motion and creates tension and curiosity. I will film from my dads plane and film over places such as the town square on a busy saturday, the train station in rush hour and a playground or school at lunchtime. This will all be played in slow motion with the use of noises that symbolise happiness such as; laughters, cheering, clapping, talking etc. I will include lots of shots and sounds that will help build up this tention and mysterious scene and i will keep flashing back to the plane from the sky and then back to the ground to increase tention.


I will also have some sort of digital clock that will be ticking thoughout and refered to throughout to symbolise that something will happen when the timer runs out.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsjR5FGNGiY

Friday 5 November 2010

Level 4 Film Analysis

The film begins and continues to show creative ideas throughout. At first we see a title along with a news reporter style voice which draws the audience into the video and sets the scene.
We then see a man running towards a set of strairs with the news reporter's voice in background along with some quiet mysterious music. This is very creative and already the director has set the scene and engaged the audience into the video.
  1. All shots framed well, character is shot in centre of shot unless the scene demands anything different
  2. the shots are correct
  3. wide variety, long shots and close ups
  4. all content is suited to genre and relevant to storyline
  5. colours are dark apart from red making it stand out, setting suitable to genre, props
  6. Relate to storyline and build on the setting which is consistently urban, few actors are used which makes it clear who the main character is
  7. cropped & re-sizing
  8. clear pronunciation, emotion shown through the characters voice well
  9. suitable size
  10. blogs in chronological order with titles blog type is plain, film type, different size
  11. editing and cutting shots, add in titles, contrasting of shots, colouring of shots, blog

Level 4 Assessment Criteria for Foundation Portfolio (Video)

Level 4 Assessment Criteria for Foundation Portfolio (Video)
Level 4 48–60 marks


There is evidence of excellence in the creative use of most of the following technical skills:
framing a shot, including and excluding elements as appropriate;
using a variety of shot distances as appropriate;


shooting material appropriate to the task set;

selecting mise-en-scène including colour, figure, lighting, objects and setting;

manipulating photographs as appropriate to the context for presentation, including cropping and resizing;

accurately using language and register;

appropriately integrating illustration and text;

showing understanding of conventions of layout and page design;

showing awareness of the need for variety in fonts and text size;
using ICT appropriately for the task set.