Thursday 31 March 2011
G321 - Rough cut of film and feedback
Here is our first rough cut for our film, and the feedback that we got.
- Holding a shot stead, where appropriate - Proficient (Held steady all the way through apart from the pan at the birthday party)
- Framing a shot - Proficient (No changes to be made here)
- Using a variety of shot distances as appropriate - Proficient (No improvment needed)
- Selecting mise-en-scene - Proficient (Photo continuity - hold then scatter)
- Editing so that the meaning is apparent to the viewer - Excellent (Very understandable)
- Using varied shot transitions - Proficient (Some fade to black transitions aren't long enough)
- Using sound with images and editing appropriately for the task set - Excellent (Music is brilliant but doesn't fade our appropriately)
Using titles appropiratley - Incomplete (Need to add titles and institutional logos)
As this is our first rough cut we are very happy with the feedback we have got, we know we need to improve it in general and tidy bits up but from our feed back these are definete improvements we are going t make.
- We are going to cut the pan in the birthday scene because it isn't a steady shot, so this will improve to make all of our camera shots steady.
- We are going to sort out the bedroom scene where the mother is picking up the photo's because it isn't continous, one moment all the photo's are scattered on the bed and then the next moment the mother has them in her hand so we will re-arrange this so it is continous and fits.
- With our shot tranistions we are going to extend some of our fade to blacks because some of them are too short.
- With our soundtrack we need to change it so it fades out at a better time, we were thinking to have the music playing very very quietly when the dad comes him so you can hear his voice and the music.
- We also need to add our titles and our logo's to our film to make our opening complete.
Millie
Monday 21 March 2011
G321 - Filming Diary
Saturday 12th March - On Saturday this was when we filmed the voice over of the little girl (Lucy), we didn't actually have to film her in person we just needed her voice so this part of the filming was fairly straight forward. We were very prepared and had all our script ready so we didn't waste time, Lucy (who's voice we are using for our film) is only young so it was quite difficult for her to read the long paragraphs of writing we had set for her, this was a problem but we soon over came it. We split the paragraphs up into just small sentences so Lucy would find it easier to do and she did, once we had shortened them it took a lot less time. Lucy's voice is very young and sweet which is what we needed for our film, we needed innocence. Some of the lines Lucy said, we needed to make her say it a few more times because she either said the line to happy to sad or to slow or fast but in the end we got what we needed so this day of filming went smoothly.
Tuesday 15th March - This day was going to be the hardest day filming because we were going to film the most complicated scene (which was the bedroom scene), we had a problem before we even started filming though which was we only had one camera when we really needed two because they needed to be set up at different parts of the room. We only had one camera so had to try our best and make do with what we had. Before we filmed we wanted to have a run through to make sure things ran smoothly, we then had another problem because our female actor Ellie, really wasn't putting in as much emotion as she should of. She needed to portray the mum in a very destroyed way because she has just lost her daugther. We then had to direct her into how she could become this very emotional and upset character. Because we only had one camera we first filmed the back of Ellie (showing an over the shoulder shot), we had to film this numerous times because something kept going wrong every time, either the actor forgot her line, or there was traffic outside making noise, or the camera wasn't straight. We then went on to film the front of Ellie's face so we could show her emotions, we ran it through without filming and it went fine and then we filmed it and there was a dew problems, first the lighting went very very dark on the camera so we had to figure out how to make the room lighter even though it was day light! Then the second problem was Ellie's hair was covering part of her face so you couldn't see all of her emotions. We then re-filmed where you could see Ellie's face but the lighting still wasn't perfect but we just had to get on with it. When our Male actor had to come in and say his line "what are you doing", we got this bit done fairly quickly, It took a few takes though. We also then just had a shot of Olly walking in and saying his line, without Ellie being in the shot, we thought we could fit this shot in with the editing to show the variety of shots we used.
We finally got the bedroom scene done and then we had some more time left to film so we went to do the birthday scene, we had to change to a completely different location to do this. We though the bedroom scene was going to be quite simply because we only needed one camera to do it as the camera was going to stay in exactly the same place. It took longer here setting up than it did actually filming, this was because we had to turn a kitchen into a birthday party, so we set up banners, presents, balloons and even a cake so the setting would look spot on. Once we had set it up we then started to film and we didn't really have any problems, we obviously had to film the scene a few times because it never comes out perfect the first time you film it. The birthday scene was very simple to do and we got it done without having any major problems.
Wednesday 16th March - This day we were going to film the park scene and the home videos. We started filming the park scene and we knew this was going to be difficult to do because it is in a public place, when we first got to the park there was people in it but we wouldn't be allowed to tell them to get out of it because it's a public place so we waited for a bit and then they finally went. We first had to film a tracking shot of the park but we wanted to have the round about and the swing both moving, and this was very difficult because they were at opposite ends of the park. One of us had to film while the other one had to quickly move the round about and then the swing with out getting in the shot, this took a lot of shots but in the end we finally got it. We then came up with the idea of having a close up of the swing swinging with no one on it and then the roundabout moving with no one on it, these 2 shots were very easy to do and they were going to work really well in our film. We then needed to film Ellie in the park and we didn't stick to the storyboard or shot list here, we came up with a completely different idea, but it was much better than our original. Instead of just filming Ellie in the park walking along for the positive side, we filmed Ellie pushing the round about like her Daugher is actually there and she is smiling and being very happy, we then put the camera high on the climbing frame and face it downwards to Ellie holding her arms up, like the camera is it's child. She then said "come on, come down to mummy", we thought this idea was much better than just having the mum walking through the park.
Thursday 17th March - When we looked over all our filming we realised there was some major mistakes with the bedroom scene, the emotion of the character wasn't there and the camera angles we used were rubbish! We had used an over the shoulder shot of the mum looking through the photos of her child but it also showed the rest of the room and the setting but we then thought, the camera isn't focusing on anything in particular so we needed to re-film this! We also needed to re-film the bedroom scene because we needed more shots of Ellie and more of a variety because our camera shots were limited. We wasn't planning to re-film but we had no choice, we were able to use our female character (Ellie) but then we had a big problem (Olly) our male character was unavailable so we had to figure out to what we had to do. We tried to get someone to fill in but we had no one so we then decided to just go ahead and film Ellie and we would fit Olly in where we needed to when we were editing. We were much more prepared filming the bedroom scene this time, we had both cameras set up on two places of the room, one was focusing on Ellie's face and her emotions and the over was a clear over the shoulder shot of Ellie looking through the photo's, this only took a short while to film because it went smoothly (the only reason we had had to re-film was if there noise outside from the traffic) so it went well. We thought we would film the bedroom scene again changing the shots so when we came to editing we would have a lot of choice, we did an extreme close-up of Ellie's face because we thought it would really portray her emotional character. Lastly we came up with the idea of doing a birds eye view of all the photo's spread out on the bed and Ellie's hands searching through, this looked really good on the camera so we hope we can fit this shot into our film.
Millie
Tuesday 15th March - This day was going to be the hardest day filming because we were going to film the most complicated scene (which was the bedroom scene), we had a problem before we even started filming though which was we only had one camera when we really needed two because they needed to be set up at different parts of the room. We only had one camera so had to try our best and make do with what we had. Before we filmed we wanted to have a run through to make sure things ran smoothly, we then had another problem because our female actor Ellie, really wasn't putting in as much emotion as she should of. She needed to portray the mum in a very destroyed way because she has just lost her daugther. We then had to direct her into how she could become this very emotional and upset character. Because we only had one camera we first filmed the back of Ellie (showing an over the shoulder shot), we had to film this numerous times because something kept going wrong every time, either the actor forgot her line, or there was traffic outside making noise, or the camera wasn't straight. We then went on to film the front of Ellie's face so we could show her emotions, we ran it through without filming and it went fine and then we filmed it and there was a dew problems, first the lighting went very very dark on the camera so we had to figure out how to make the room lighter even though it was day light! Then the second problem was Ellie's hair was covering part of her face so you couldn't see all of her emotions. We then re-filmed where you could see Ellie's face but the lighting still wasn't perfect but we just had to get on with it. When our Male actor had to come in and say his line "what are you doing", we got this bit done fairly quickly, It took a few takes though. We also then just had a shot of Olly walking in and saying his line, without Ellie being in the shot, we thought we could fit this shot in with the editing to show the variety of shots we used.
We finally got the bedroom scene done and then we had some more time left to film so we went to do the birthday scene, we had to change to a completely different location to do this. We though the bedroom scene was going to be quite simply because we only needed one camera to do it as the camera was going to stay in exactly the same place. It took longer here setting up than it did actually filming, this was because we had to turn a kitchen into a birthday party, so we set up banners, presents, balloons and even a cake so the setting would look spot on. Once we had set it up we then started to film and we didn't really have any problems, we obviously had to film the scene a few times because it never comes out perfect the first time you film it. The birthday scene was very simple to do and we got it done without having any major problems.
Wednesday 16th March - This day we were going to film the park scene and the home videos. We started filming the park scene and we knew this was going to be difficult to do because it is in a public place, when we first got to the park there was people in it but we wouldn't be allowed to tell them to get out of it because it's a public place so we waited for a bit and then they finally went. We first had to film a tracking shot of the park but we wanted to have the round about and the swing both moving, and this was very difficult because they were at opposite ends of the park. One of us had to film while the other one had to quickly move the round about and then the swing with out getting in the shot, this took a lot of shots but in the end we finally got it. We then came up with the idea of having a close up of the swing swinging with no one on it and then the roundabout moving with no one on it, these 2 shots were very easy to do and they were going to work really well in our film. We then needed to film Ellie in the park and we didn't stick to the storyboard or shot list here, we came up with a completely different idea, but it was much better than our original. Instead of just filming Ellie in the park walking along for the positive side, we filmed Ellie pushing the round about like her Daugher is actually there and she is smiling and being very happy, we then put the camera high on the climbing frame and face it downwards to Ellie holding her arms up, like the camera is it's child. She then said "come on, come down to mummy", we thought this idea was much better than just having the mum walking through the park.
Thursday 17th March - When we looked over all our filming we realised there was some major mistakes with the bedroom scene, the emotion of the character wasn't there and the camera angles we used were rubbish! We had used an over the shoulder shot of the mum looking through the photos of her child but it also showed the rest of the room and the setting but we then thought, the camera isn't focusing on anything in particular so we needed to re-film this! We also needed to re-film the bedroom scene because we needed more shots of Ellie and more of a variety because our camera shots were limited. We wasn't planning to re-film but we had no choice, we were able to use our female character (Ellie) but then we had a big problem (Olly) our male character was unavailable so we had to figure out to what we had to do. We tried to get someone to fill in but we had no one so we then decided to just go ahead and film Ellie and we would fit Olly in where we needed to when we were editing. We were much more prepared filming the bedroom scene this time, we had both cameras set up on two places of the room, one was focusing on Ellie's face and her emotions and the over was a clear over the shoulder shot of Ellie looking through the photo's, this only took a short while to film because it went smoothly (the only reason we had had to re-film was if there noise outside from the traffic) so it went well. We thought we would film the bedroom scene again changing the shots so when we came to editing we would have a lot of choice, we did an extreme close-up of Ellie's face because we thought it would really portray her emotional character. Lastly we came up with the idea of doing a birds eye view of all the photo's spread out on the bed and Ellie's hands searching through, this looked really good on the camera so we hope we can fit this shot into our film.
Millie
Friday 18 March 2011
G321 - Problems we've had with filming
This is a list of the problems we've encountered while filming so far:
Tuesday 15th March
1. The tripod we had chosen was wonky so we had to make do with using one tripod and camera, we started with filming the back of our actors head then had to run the whole scene again moving the camera and Tripod to show the emotion on her face.
2. First time we filmed showing her face her hair covered her face so we moved the camera to a better angle and carried on from there.
3. The dynamics in the sound were very different when filming behind her and infront of her, due to the fact when we filmed showing her face the camera was closer to her, therefore made it alot louder.
4. The first few times we ran through the script we felt the actor had not shown enough emotion, we gave her some directions and this improved.
5. Getting the lighting to match up in the many different shots we used was difficult so we had to make the lighting the same in each shot by closing blinds or opening curtains etc.
6. To change shots from happy to sad we want to turn teh camera round, we found this hard as the camera didnt turn straight and kept moving up and down we overcame this by deciding we would speed up the turn so you wont be able to tell how wonky it goes.
Wednesday 16th March
7. When watching over what we had filmed in the park we foudn the wind was to strong and we couldnt hear what our actor was saying, we over came this by deciding we would delete the sound off the clip and add in a voice over of her instead so we can hear her clearly.
8. When the shot pans across to show an empty park we need to roundabout and swing to move we found this hard as they are both on the opposite sides of the park and by the time weve filmed on of them the other one has stopped moving. We overcame this by pushing the roundabout then running round to push the swing while we were filming but out of the cameras view.
9. When filming the home videos we had problems with the camera showing the videos a blue colour as this is the colour the screen on the television is before you press play. We overcame this by playing the home videos an extra 10 seconds before we record, this gives the camera time to adjust to the actual colour of the videos.
By Paige
Tuesday 15th March
1. The tripod we had chosen was wonky so we had to make do with using one tripod and camera, we started with filming the back of our actors head then had to run the whole scene again moving the camera and Tripod to show the emotion on her face.
2. First time we filmed showing her face her hair covered her face so we moved the camera to a better angle and carried on from there.
3. The dynamics in the sound were very different when filming behind her and infront of her, due to the fact when we filmed showing her face the camera was closer to her, therefore made it alot louder.
4. The first few times we ran through the script we felt the actor had not shown enough emotion, we gave her some directions and this improved.
5. Getting the lighting to match up in the many different shots we used was difficult so we had to make the lighting the same in each shot by closing blinds or opening curtains etc.
6. To change shots from happy to sad we want to turn teh camera round, we found this hard as the camera didnt turn straight and kept moving up and down we overcame this by deciding we would speed up the turn so you wont be able to tell how wonky it goes.
Wednesday 16th March
7. When watching over what we had filmed in the park we foudn the wind was to strong and we couldnt hear what our actor was saying, we over came this by deciding we would delete the sound off the clip and add in a voice over of her instead so we can hear her clearly.
8. When the shot pans across to show an empty park we need to roundabout and swing to move we found this hard as they are both on the opposite sides of the park and by the time weve filmed on of them the other one has stopped moving. We overcame this by pushing the roundabout then running round to push the swing while we were filming but out of the cameras view.
9. When filming the home videos we had problems with the camera showing the videos a blue colour as this is the colour the screen on the television is before you press play. We overcame this by playing the home videos an extra 10 seconds before we record, this gives the camera time to adjust to the actual colour of the videos.
By Paige
G321 - Final script
When we were filming we found that some of the lines didnt fit the scenery or the actors as well as they could, so we changed a few lines and stage directions as we went on, we kept a note of every change we had made, this is the new script.
Family videos of christmas, first birthday, school production and at a resturant are shown focalising on Ella. Dad does not appear in any of the videos. Soundtrack being played over the top and mum talking Ella, calling her name and generally acting happy.
Park scene
Ella: (Talking over the images, of the park and her mother standing in it, as a voiceover) When I was six, My Mummy took me to the park and promised we would only go home when I wanted to. She told me it was our special day, a day for us to have lots and lots of fun. I remember her being so happy, I've never seen her laugh as much as she did on our day.
Sarah: (talking to an imaginary person, thinking its her daughter) where are you going? (runs over to the climbing frame looking into the camera with her arms open) come down from there sweetie, come to mummy come on!
Ella: But then Daddy came and said he didn't want to push me on the swing, he made us go home even though I never said I wanted too.
Party scene
Ella: (Soundtrack still being played over Sarah lighting the candles on the cake, few voices sing happy birthday in the background as Sarah Picks up the birthday cake and looks straight into the camera happily) That year Mummy promised me the best birthday party ever. She didn't let me down, she never did. She made the cake all by herself and was even more excited than I was! But then daddy came home from work and didn't sing happy birthday when everyone else did. He sent all my friends home early and I never knew why.
(Scene changes to Sarah sitting on the bed looking through old pictures of ella)
Ella - Dont worry about me mummy, I'm not in pain anymore, I'm still here, I'll be your little angel
Sarah - Why did you have to take MY baby? I just want my little girl back!
Ella - I'll never forget you Mummy, you'll always be my hero
Sarah - (letting out her emotions) Why do i feel like I'm the only one thinking about you and missing you!
(Sarah rapidly flicks through all the pictures she has and begins to get flustered as she cannot find a single picture of her husband and their daughter)
Sarah: And why is it cant find a single picture of you and your own dad?
Sarah - Is it because I AM the only one missing you?
(Nick walks through the door, it is clear he has been standing listening for quite a bit)
Nick: (Angrily, as if Sarah is a disgrace) What are you doing?
By Paige
Family videos of christmas, first birthday, school production and at a resturant are shown focalising on Ella. Dad does not appear in any of the videos. Soundtrack being played over the top and mum talking Ella, calling her name and generally acting happy.
Park scene
Ella: (Talking over the images, of the park and her mother standing in it, as a voiceover) When I was six, My Mummy took me to the park and promised we would only go home when I wanted to. She told me it was our special day, a day for us to have lots and lots of fun. I remember her being so happy, I've never seen her laugh as much as she did on our day.
Sarah: (talking to an imaginary person, thinking its her daughter) where are you going? (runs over to the climbing frame looking into the camera with her arms open) come down from there sweetie, come to mummy come on!
Ella: But then Daddy came and said he didn't want to push me on the swing, he made us go home even though I never said I wanted too.
Party scene
Ella: (Soundtrack still being played over Sarah lighting the candles on the cake, few voices sing happy birthday in the background as Sarah Picks up the birthday cake and looks straight into the camera happily) That year Mummy promised me the best birthday party ever. She didn't let me down, she never did. She made the cake all by herself and was even more excited than I was! But then daddy came home from work and didn't sing happy birthday when everyone else did. He sent all my friends home early and I never knew why.
(Scene changes to Sarah sitting on the bed looking through old pictures of ella)
Ella - Dont worry about me mummy, I'm not in pain anymore, I'm still here, I'll be your little angel
Sarah - Why did you have to take MY baby? I just want my little girl back!
Ella - I'll never forget you Mummy, you'll always be my hero
Sarah - (letting out her emotions) Why do i feel like I'm the only one thinking about you and missing you!
(Sarah rapidly flicks through all the pictures she has and begins to get flustered as she cannot find a single picture of her husband and their daughter)
Sarah: And why is it cant find a single picture of you and your own dad?
Sarah - Is it because I AM the only one missing you?
(Nick walks through the door, it is clear he has been standing listening for quite a bit)
Nick: (Angrily, as if Sarah is a disgrace) What are you doing?
By Paige
Thursday 10 March 2011
G321 - Improved Story Board
Family Video's - Christmas, Holidays Birthdays.
Duration - 21 seconds
Close up of TV
Diegetic sound of the family videos
Non diegetic sound of the soundtrack starting
Titles - Film Makers Name, Main actors Names (3)
Mum Sarah show in the park (Happy)
Duration - 6 seconds
Long shot of Mother and Park
Non diegetic sound of the soundtrack
Non diegetic sound of little girls voice over
Titles - Casting Directors Name
Mum Sarah show in the park (Sad)
Duration - 5 seconds
Mid shot of Mother in the Park
Non diegetic sound of the soundtrack
Non diegetic sound of little girls voice over
Titles - Costume Designers Name
Park Empty but the swing swinging
Duration - 4 seconds
Long shot of Park
Non diegetic sound of the soundtrack
Non diegetic sound of little girls voice over
Titles - Music Directors Name
Mum Sarah shown in Kitchen setting up daugthers birthday
Duration - 7 seconds
Long shot of Mother in the kitchen
Non diegetic sound of the soundtrack
Non diegetic sound of little girls voice over
Titles - Co-Producers Name
Mum Sarah shown lighting the birthday cake
Duration - 5 seconds
Mid shot of Mother
Non diegetic sound of the soundtrack
Non diegetic sound of little girls voice over
Titles - Editors Name
Birthday ruined
Duration - 4 seconds
Long shot of the kitchen and birthday ruined
Non diegetic sound of the soundtrack
Non diegetic sound of little girls voice over
Titles - Production Designers Name
Mum looking at photo album pictures
Duration - 3 seconds
Over shoulder Shot of Mother
Non diegetic sound of the soundtrack
Non diegetic sound of little girls voice over
Titles - Executive Producers Name
Mum looking at photo album pictures
Duration - 3 seconds
Close up Shot of Mother
Non diegetic sound of the soundtrack
Non diegetic sound of little girls voice over
Titles - Executive Producers Name
Mum looking at photo album pictures smiling
Duration - 3 seconds
Over shoulder Shot of Mother
Non diegetic sound of the soundtrack
Non diegetic sound of little girls voice over
Titles - Executive Producers Name
Mum looking at photo album pictures
Duration - 3 seconds
Over shoulder Shot of Mother
Non diegetic sound of the soundtrack
Non diegetic sound of little girls voice over
Titles - Producers Name
Mum looking at photo album pictures smiling
Duration - 3 seconds
Mid Shot of Mother
Non diegetic sound of the soundtrack
Non diegetic sound of little girls voice over
Titles - Producers name
Mum looking at photo album pictures
Duration - 3 seconds
Over shoulder Shot of Mother
Non diegetic sound of the soundtrack starting to fade
Diegetic sound of Mothers Voice
Titles - Screen Players Name
Mum looking at photo album pictures
Duration - 3 seconds
Close up Shot of Mother (realises something isn't right)
Non diegetic sound of the soundtrack stops
Non diegetic sound of little girls voice over
Titles - Directors Name
Dad comes home from work
Duration - 5
Over shoulder Shot of Mother and Dad
Diegetic sound of Dad talking
Titles - Directors Name
Mum in a fright
Duration - 2 seconds
Close up of Mum
Non diegetic sound of a different soundtrack
Titles - Title of Film
I have Improved this Story Board from our last intial one. What I have done is re done it and added some more shots into it which I think are necessary, (before we just had over shoulder shots and now I have also added mid shots so you can also see facial expressions and emotions). It is also much clearer now as I have added the text on underneath so it is very clear. Its a lot more neater and organised so our Story Board will benifet us a lot when filming because it's a template of what we will do.
By Millie
Wednesday 9 March 2011
G321 - Script Improvement
We made improvements to our script by taking the feedback we were given from a variety of people and changed some of the lines to fit the plot. This is our new script.
Images are shown of family videos and happy memories (christmas, holidays etc). Child's laughter is played in the background to show how happy ella was with Sarah (her mother) calling out to her in a happy manner.
Park scene
Ella - (Talking over the images, of the park and her mother standing in it, as a voiceover) When I was six, My Mummy took me to the park and promised we would only go home when I wanted to. She told me it was our special day, a day for us to have lots and lots of fun. I remember her being so happy, I've never seen her laugh as much as she did on our day. But then Daddy came and said he didn't want to push me on the swing, he made us go home even though I never said I wanted too.
Party scene
Ella - (People singing happy birthday, slowly begins to fade out and later comes to a sudden stop when Nick enters and ella as the voiceover starts speaking) That year Mummy promised me the best birthday party ever. She didn't let me down, she never did. She made the cake all by herself and was even more excited than I was! But then daddy came home from work and didn't sing happy birthday when everyone else did. he sent all my friends home early and I never knew why.
(Scene changes to Sarah sitting on the bed looking through old pictures of ella)
Ella - Dont worry about me mummy, I'm not in pain anymore, I'm still here, I'll be your little angel
Sarah - Why did you have to take MY baby? I just want my little girl back!
Ella - I'll never forget you Mummy, you'll always be my hero
Sarah - (letting out her emotions) Why do i feel like I'm the only one thinking about you and missing you!
(Sarah looks at a picture of Ella and nick and notices they look distant, realises as long as she can remember he's never showed interest in Ella)
Sarah - Is it because I am the only one missing you?
(Nick appears behind her, watching what she is doing)
Nick - What are you doing?
By Paige
Images are shown of family videos and happy memories (christmas, holidays etc). Child's laughter is played in the background to show how happy ella was with Sarah (her mother) calling out to her in a happy manner.
Park scene
Ella - (Talking over the images, of the park and her mother standing in it, as a voiceover) When I was six, My Mummy took me to the park and promised we would only go home when I wanted to. She told me it was our special day, a day for us to have lots and lots of fun. I remember her being so happy, I've never seen her laugh as much as she did on our day. But then Daddy came and said he didn't want to push me on the swing, he made us go home even though I never said I wanted too.
Party scene
Ella - (People singing happy birthday, slowly begins to fade out and later comes to a sudden stop when Nick enters and ella as the voiceover starts speaking) That year Mummy promised me the best birthday party ever. She didn't let me down, she never did. She made the cake all by herself and was even more excited than I was! But then daddy came home from work and didn't sing happy birthday when everyone else did. he sent all my friends home early and I never knew why.
(Scene changes to Sarah sitting on the bed looking through old pictures of ella)
Ella - Dont worry about me mummy, I'm not in pain anymore, I'm still here, I'll be your little angel
Sarah - Why did you have to take MY baby? I just want my little girl back!
Ella - I'll never forget you Mummy, you'll always be my hero
Sarah - (letting out her emotions) Why do i feel like I'm the only one thinking about you and missing you!
(Sarah looks at a picture of Ella and nick and notices they look distant, realises as long as she can remember he's never showed interest in Ella)
Sarah - Is it because I am the only one missing you?
(Nick appears behind her, watching what she is doing)
Nick - What are you doing?
By Paige
Monday 7 March 2011
G321 - Health and Safety
we need to consider health and safety when filming our opening, This includes safety for ourselves, our actors, people around us and obviously the equipment we are using. As part of our opening we are filming in a park which is a public place so we need to think of passers by - not disrupting them in anyway or leaving equipment out for them to trip over and leaving equipment our equipment out without anyone with it as it could be broken or even stolen. The rest of the places we are filming are inside a house so the equipment wont be at risk as much as in a public place and nor will the actors and ourselves.
When filming we also need to consider:
When filming we also need to consider:
- Getting permission to film in our chosen location - As we are using our own homes we do not need to get permission, this is also the case when we are filming in the park as nobody owns it.
- Being polite and respectful to those working in the location - When we are filming in our homes this wont be a big matter but when we are filming in the park we need to think about people walking past and wanting to use the park as we cannot disrupt their day, and if we are asked to go we move on.
- Being aware of electical equipment - When we film our home videos we will be using the television so we need to make sure their are no drinks or other liquids near the plug sockets or the television. Also this applies to the cameras as a drink being spilt on them could be very dangerous. When we decide to have a drink we need to move as far away from the electrical equipment as possible.
- Having spacial awareness - When we are filming in the park we need to remember not to block the pathways and not putting our equipment all over the park so theres no space for anyone else to walk or move around.
G321 - Consideration of sound (sound track + effects)
When considering sound for our opening we decided to look at other examples of music used in trailers and openings of the same genre. This was to get an idea of what types of soundtracks and sounds work to help set the mood for our film and to give off the correct impression of what we want our audience to feel. Because we are creating the opening to a drama we have decided that the type of soundtrack we are looking for would be something instrumental and emotional. This is to show that the film begins with loss and we want to set a sombre atmosphere but as the same time have a soundtrack that reflects happier times. For the type of film we are doing soundtrack is vital and is something that needs to be done right otherwise the connection to the film will be lost and the emotion we want the audience to feel will not exist.
'My sisters keeper' (2009) uses a piece of music in their trailer as well as in a scene in the film to help create the correct atmosphere. The piece of music is not depressing but is light and innocent and almost signifies loss or memories. This is something we want to try and create in our opening but we also want the music to make the audience feel catharsis and understand the emotion.
Another piece of music used in a film is from the film 'Seven Pounds' (2008). This piano sequence is used throughout the film and is a soundtrack that is used to effect the audience. It immediately makes you think and makes you feel emotion towards the scenes. This is a similar piece of music that we would want to use as we believe it would set the mood for our opening and tells a story of loss and sets a sombre atmosphere.
Other types of sound that we are considering are sound effects. Some of these sound effects Will have to be recorded separately as when filming them they may not be as loud as we intent. by putting in these diegetic sounds to define certain noises we will be adding to the effect of our opening. We will most likely have to do this for the park scene where we will need to include the sound of a swing swinging when there is nobody in the part to show how the happiness has ended. We may also need to do this for the birthday party scene where we will include non diegetic sound of a voice over of people signing happy birthday to make the occasion more apparent.
As for non diegetic sound we will also include another voice over commentary which will be the voice of Ella. This will be recorded separately so we can add it into our scene with Sarah thinking about her daughter who has passed away. All other voices will be diegetic and will be said when filming.
As we can only use royalty free soundtracks we have decided to look at different styles of music on http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/. This gives us a wide range of different soundtracks that's we can consider for our opening. It gives us different types so we chose to stick to soundtracks and contemporary as they are the types that are most suited to what we are looking for.
Out of the other soundtracks that we listened to this is the piece that we preferred the most. This is because we believed it had the right amount of emotion behind it and has the ability to make the audience feel the emotions that we want them to. It also helps set the mood for our opening and is something that makes you think of recent loss.
By Yasmin
'My sisters keeper' (2009) uses a piece of music in their trailer as well as in a scene in the film to help create the correct atmosphere. The piece of music is not depressing but is light and innocent and almost signifies loss or memories. This is something we want to try and create in our opening but we also want the music to make the audience feel catharsis and understand the emotion.
Another piece of music used in a film is from the film 'Seven Pounds' (2008). This piano sequence is used throughout the film and is a soundtrack that is used to effect the audience. It immediately makes you think and makes you feel emotion towards the scenes. This is a similar piece of music that we would want to use as we believe it would set the mood for our opening and tells a story of loss and sets a sombre atmosphere.
Other types of sound that we are considering are sound effects. Some of these sound effects Will have to be recorded separately as when filming them they may not be as loud as we intent. by putting in these diegetic sounds to define certain noises we will be adding to the effect of our opening. We will most likely have to do this for the park scene where we will need to include the sound of a swing swinging when there is nobody in the part to show how the happiness has ended. We may also need to do this for the birthday party scene where we will include non diegetic sound of a voice over of people signing happy birthday to make the occasion more apparent.
As for non diegetic sound we will also include another voice over commentary which will be the voice of Ella. This will be recorded separately so we can add it into our scene with Sarah thinking about her daughter who has passed away. All other voices will be diegetic and will be said when filming.
As we can only use royalty free soundtracks we have decided to look at different styles of music on http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/. This gives us a wide range of different soundtracks that's we can consider for our opening. It gives us different types so we chose to stick to soundtracks and contemporary as they are the types that are most suited to what we are looking for.
Out of the other soundtracks that we listened to this is the piece that we preferred the most. This is because we believed it had the right amount of emotion behind it and has the ability to make the audience feel the emotions that we want them to. It also helps set the mood for our opening and is something that makes you think of recent loss.
By Yasmin
G321 - Final Location
Here are picture of the proper locations we are going to film in. In the Initial Location post we included a picture of a study we are not using this part in the scene anymore as we think what we have is enough to give the audience an insight in what we have without giving away too much in the first 2 minutes.
This is the kitchen table which is going to be changed into the place where Sarah sets up all the food for the party and the centre piece being the cake which is going to be lite by Sarah. We thought this kitchen would be perfect for this scene because we want it to look as realistic as we can. Were going to decorate around it with balloons and banners to make the audience realise straight away there is a birthday party.
This is the park that we are going to use when we film the scene with Sarah walking around remembering her daughter. We chose this park due to the fact it isn't a very popular park, this means when we want to film there is a less chance that there will be people in it, so it will be easier to film. If there is people in the park we know will have to wait till there finished as we cannot ask them to move on.
This is the bedroom we are going to use for the scene when Sarah is sitting in Ella's room looking through old pictures. We chose this room as the door is next to the bed so it will be easy for the camera to see both Sarah and Nick when he stands in the doorway saying "what are you doing?" we made this room look as little girly as we would by using lots of teddies and and cute pink things as this is the stereotypical view for a little girls room.
By Paige
G321 - Improved Shotlist
Book 2
I have made some changes to our shot list to improve it and make it better for our group and to make the filming more organised. I added some extra columns that I thought were needed, I first added a costume list. I added this because our main actor (Sarah) is going to be in more than one costume at a time so I thought that by adding a costume list we wouldn't get muddled up and would know exactly what our actor had to wear. I also then added a props list which I should of added in the initial one! We needed a props list because otherwise we would easily forget items that needed to be in our shot, so now we can make sure we have everything we need.
By making these changes I am much more happy with my groups shot list because it will now make things so much more easier when we are filming as we can check everything we need in our shot and make sure everything is to plan!
By Millie
I have made some changes to our shot list to improve it and make it better for our group and to make the filming more organised. I added some extra columns that I thought were needed, I first added a costume list. I added this because our main actor (Sarah) is going to be in more than one costume at a time so I thought that by adding a costume list we wouldn't get muddled up and would know exactly what our actor had to wear. I also then added a props list which I should of added in the initial one! We needed a props list because otherwise we would easily forget items that needed to be in our shot, so now we can make sure we have everything we need.
By making these changes I am much more happy with my groups shot list because it will now make things so much more easier when we are filming as we can check everything we need in our shot and make sure everything is to plan!
By Millie
G321 - Initial Shotlist
Book1
This is the first shot list I created for my group. A shot list helps you when filming because it tells you what you need to have in every camera shot! It makes things much more organised and easier because you know exactly what your doing. On this shot list I have added the date and the time, because we wont be able to film our opening all together so I have spread it out so we can do certain parts on different days. I have also done the scene and the shot number so we know for sure we won't miss anything out. I have done the camera shot because that's the most important thing, so we know exactly what we are shooting and I have also done the duration of the shot because it makes things much simpler when we get to editing. I have done the description of the shot so we know what's happening in it and the location of where it will be so we know exactly where we need to go for that shot. I have also noted down on the shot list the camera equipment we need, I thought this would help us and make us organised on how many cameras or tripods we need for that shot. I have added Actors and Setting so we know who is acting when are where and what the setting will look like because it needs to look just right for our genre (Tragic Drama). Lastly I have added the titles and sound we will use and however we don't need the titles till editing it makes us more prepared for that task because we will know exactly what we are doing.
By Millie
This is the first shot list I created for my group. A shot list helps you when filming because it tells you what you need to have in every camera shot! It makes things much more organised and easier because you know exactly what your doing. On this shot list I have added the date and the time, because we wont be able to film our opening all together so I have spread it out so we can do certain parts on different days. I have also done the scene and the shot number so we know for sure we won't miss anything out. I have done the camera shot because that's the most important thing, so we know exactly what we are shooting and I have also done the duration of the shot because it makes things much simpler when we get to editing. I have done the description of the shot so we know what's happening in it and the location of where it will be so we know exactly where we need to go for that shot. I have also noted down on the shot list the camera equipment we need, I thought this would help us and make us organised on how many cameras or tripods we need for that shot. I have added Actors and Setting so we know who is acting when are where and what the setting will look like because it needs to look just right for our genre (Tragic Drama). Lastly I have added the titles and sound we will use and however we don't need the titles till editing it makes us more prepared for that task because we will know exactly what we are doing.
By Millie
G321 - Animatic Storyboard
We created an animatic story board because we wanted to see if our film was going to work, we took some basic photos of what was going to be involved in our opening and we then added a soundtrack. As you can see by the video, our film works 100% and you can definitely tell it is a tragic drama, the soundtrack we have chosen we actually want to us in our final film opening and this is because it really sets the emotional and distraught mood we wanted to portray. We are very happy that we know our film opening is going to work and the audience will understand it.
By Millie
G321 - Consent forms
Consent forms are a vital document that explains what the actors/actresses will be doing and that they will be posted on the Internet when the film is done, without them being signed and returned they will not be able to put on the Internet and therefore we cannot use them as we need to post them onto our blogs for the examiners to see.
As both of our actors are over the age of 18 they will not need the parents/guardians consent but will need to sign it themselves to say it is ok for us to post them on the Internet. Both of our actors have done this.
We are going to use the voice over of a young girl as she is not going to appear on screen she is allowed to be in it even though she is under the age of 16, we will still need a consent form signed by her parent/guardian because she doesn't meet the age criteria.
By Paige
As both of our actors are over the age of 18 they will not need the parents/guardians consent but will need to sign it themselves to say it is ok for us to post them on the Internet. Both of our actors have done this.
We are going to use the voice over of a young girl as she is not going to appear on screen she is allowed to be in it even though she is under the age of 16, we will still need a consent form signed by her parent/guardian because she doesn't meet the age criteria.
By Paige
G321 - Auditions and Casting
AUDITION FOR SARAH
We decided that we were going to audition 3 people for the role of Sarah, this is because she is the main actor in our opening so wanted to make sure we cast the right person.
Jessica Foster
Jessica performed very well for the part of Sarah. Her emotions were convincing and as you can see she has had lots of experience in acting in the past. I thought she did really well in portraying a very distraught mother, however we will not be choosing her for the part. Although the acting is all there she hasn't got the right look for the mother who will need to be played by someone who looks much older, as the mother (Sarah) is an adult however her audition was very good but unfortunately we cannot cast her.
Katie Fenelon
I thought Katie tried her hardest but really didn't suit the part of Sarah. Katie hasn't had any acting experience so she has done quite well in this audition because of that. The negatives are that you could tell she was acting and I didn't really believe in her character of a distraught mum. Also in the auditions she doesn't take stage directions very well as she found them distracting and kept having to stop when she came across and lastly she is too young for the part of Sarah as we need someone who looks like an adult. Although she tried her best we couldn't cast Katie because of her look and the acting as we need someone who puts more emotion in.
Ellie Dodwell
Ellie's audition was excellent! She gave a powerful performance with believable emotions and you really felt sympathy for her. If she was to act in our film I think she would portray Sarah in a very realistic way and the audience would feel for her character. Also I think Ellie has just the right look for Sarah, she had got a very natural pretty face which is what we need (we don't want someone covered in make-up), it makes her look quite innocent and fragile which is what we need. Her shot hair makes her look like an adult which is good because we want someone who looks the age (we don't want to use teenagers). We as a group have decided to cast Ellie as the part of Sarah, not only has she shown us she can portray Sarah in a very moving believable way she also has the exact look that we are looking for, so we are very happy with the choice of casting Ellie and Sarah in our film!
AUDITION FOR NICK
For the part of Nick we already has a clear image of who was going to play him. As it is only a minor role we did not feel as though we needed to audition as many people for him as we did for Sarah, however it was still equally as important to find someone suitable.
Jake Bain
For the part of Nick we wanted someone who was going to seem distant from his wife and not show any sympathy for her when she is at a low point. Because of this we do not feel Jake is suitable for this role as he has no experience in acting. This came across in his audition as he did not come across how we wanted Nick's character to be. Because of his lack of emotion it is difficult to picture him being Nick. However Jake does have the correct sort of image that we are after for this part as he looks older but unfortunately the acting was not up to the standards we expected and decided he wasn't suited for the role of Nick.
Olly Young
In Olly's audition for Nick our group felt he was best suited for the part. This was due to his experience in acting and his age and image.Because the two characters are adults we felt we would benefit more if the actors looked older so we felt that Olly was our best option. Because he has experience in acting it shouldn't be too difficult for him to adapt to the part of Nick as we could tell from his audition. As he looks older he is able to pull of Nicks character and play him well. After watching all the auditions for both parts we decided Olly and Ellie were perfect for the roles and we were confident that both actors would perform the two parts to a good standard and make our opening a lot more believable.
By Paige Millie Yas
G321 - Script for auditions
AUDITION FOR SARAH!
Sarah - I just want my little girl back
Sarah - (letting out her emotions) why do I feel like I'm the only one thinking about you and missing you!
(Sarah looks at a picture of Ella and nick and notices they look distant and Nick shows no interest in Ella)
Sarah - wait a minute
Sarah - (letting out her emotions) why do I feel like I'm the only one thinking about you and missing you!
(Sarah looks at a picture of Ella and nick and notices they look distant and Nick shows no interest in Ella)
Sarah - wait a minute
This is our script for Sarah, and we have chosen this because the language is very emotional and depressing and this is what we want Sarah to be portrayed like, she needs to be despairing and grieving.
AUDITION FOR NICK
Nick – I don’t care, why should I!
She’s not even my daughter, she never was and we didn’t even have a relationship anyway, there was no bond!
We didn’t act like father and daughter... we were...we were nothing.
This is our audition for Nick, in our actual film he only says one line so we have created this audition script which shows his angry side. We want Nick to come across very nasty and blunt and portray that he doesn't care about his daughter.
By Millie
This is our audition for Nick, in our actual film he only says one line so we have created this audition script which shows his angry side. We want Nick to come across very nasty and blunt and portray that he doesn't care about his daughter.
By Millie
Tuesday 1 March 2011
G321 - Notes on titles for our opening
We need to consider the titles we are going to use during our opening and make sure they are appropriate, titles are probably the most important thing in an opening because that's what makes it significant.
Here is what we have come up with :
- Film makers name
- Main actors name (female)
- Main actors name (male)
- Main actors name (female)
- Casting directors name
- Costume designers name
- Music directors name
- Co-producers name
- Editors name
- Production designers name
- Executive producers name
- Producers names
- Screen plays names
- Directors name
- Title of film
These are the titles that we are considering having in our film opening, we want to make sure that we have enough titles to take up the whole 1:30 - 2:00 minutes of our film. These are also in the order of how we would like them to come up.
By Millie
Here is what we have come up with :
- Film makers name
- Main actors name (female)
- Main actors name (male)
- Main actors name (female)
- Casting directors name
- Costume designers name
- Music directors name
- Co-producers name
- Editors name
- Production designers name
- Executive producers name
- Producers names
- Screen plays names
- Directors name
- Title of film
These are the titles that we are considering having in our film opening, we want to make sure that we have enough titles to take up the whole 1:30 - 2:00 minutes of our film. These are also in the order of how we would like them to come up.
By Millie
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