Review of our project (so far)

Some plans did not go as well as we had of wanted them to, this was due to some interruptions. As a group we had to cancel a few meeting sessions because of emergencies, characters missing, and having other important plans that were the priority. It has to be admitted that at the beginning the group was a bit disorganised as this is the first time we actually have filmed a project like this before so we were not sure of how to manage our time and everything else that belongs with it.
However this Tuesday which happens to be today we have decided to go off and finally shoot something so we can work on it over the next few days after the holidays or even try and complete it before. Hopefully all of the characters will be there and once we set everything up we will be able to succeed with some work being done and finish the rest as soon as possible.

Call Sheet (Long Winter)

Call Sheet

LONG WINTER

Filming For Scene 1 - Flashback House

Cast. Location. From - To (am/pm) Character.

Andreas

House 9pm - 10pm Main Survivor

Ellie

House 9pm - 10pm Flashback Female

Filming For Scene 2 - Survivors Camp

Cast. Location. From - To (am/pm) Character.

Andreas

Overgrown Field 5pm - 9 pm Main Survivor

Camp.

Daniel

Overgrown Field 5pm - 9 pm Main Survivor

Camp.

Frankie

Overgrown Field 5pm - 9 pm Main Survivor

Camp.

Filming on Tuesday 14th December

After four previous attempts at filming and discussing every other possible date to do it but to no avail. Extra measures and decisions have been taken to ensure that filming is finished today.

Firstly, all cast and crew have been reminded numerous times where they are needed, at what time, to play what part and for how long.

Secondly, the decisions has been made that no matter who does or does not turn up, as much filming as possible will be done today. Even if main characters are unable to take part, filming will still take place and instead, modify whatever has been changed in the planning work afterwards.

Thirdly, all props, costumes and equipment are organized so that as little amount of time as possible is needed to set up for filming and more time can actually be placed into filming.

Clothing and Prop List

Scene 1.

Props

• Candles to create the romantic mood and provide ambient lighting for the scene.

Clothing

• Clothing consists only of casual wear for Andreas and Ellie.

The scene being as short as it is and being set in a normal house, not many props are required other than what is already there.

Scene 2.

Props.

• Small Weathered Tent, set up in the camping area. Daniel, Frankie and Joe will be sleeping in this tent when Andreas wakes them up to leave towards the end of this scene.
• Camping Light, placed inside the Tent. Provides a small amount of light and is used turned on when Andreas wakes everyone up to leave.
• Camping Stool, set up outside the tent. Andreas will be sitting on this stool when he is looking at the Old Weathered Photo.
• Old Weathered Photo of Andreas and Ellie, taken of them before the event. Burnt, dirtied and ripped, the photo is made to look significantly old.
• Bag of Assorted Batteries and an Old Torch for Andreas to look through when he hears the noises in the surrounding forest and needs light to investigate.
• Old and Empty Food Cans placed around the campsite to give the impression of scavenging and survival.
• Characters Bags placed next to the tent containing all of their equipment etc
• Characters Weapons including a crowbar, a shovel, trench shovel and a hammer placed around the campsite to give impression that there is danger enough present to require significant protection.
• Sleeping Bags in which Daniel, Frankie and Joe will be sleeping in while Andreas is sat outside on guard.

Clothing.

All of the characters will have assorted costume consisting of,

• Military/Industrial Boots. Black in colour, large and covered in dirt. Weathered to show that they have been on for a long time.
• Camouflage Trousers and Jeans. Dirtied and scruffy to show that they have been used for a long time.
• Large Jackets and/or Jumpers with hoods attached, also dirtied and weathered for the same effect.
• Gloves, Scarfs and other assorted Winter Wear to show that it is significantly below temperature.
• Gas Masks, work only by Andreas in the start of Scene Two but worn by all towards the end as they leave. These give mixed messages to the audience in the film intro. It gives the impression that there is reason to wear gas masks, possibility of background radiation or some other kind of danger.

Sound Analysis

Throughout our opening scene we choose to have sounds that are relevant to our theme and to create an thriller atmosphere. We also choose to have sounds to replace the dialogue which we have kept very limited in order to make the movie more interesting when it is viewed


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gT6AnrDwew
The sounds that we will be using towards the end of the scene 2 (forest) is based on the film The Road soundtrack. This is because the music that is used is very effective which is what we wanted in our film.


Forest
We also wanted to use sounds that are based on some of the objects that we will be present in our opening scene. The sounds listed below are going to be used to help set the scene as well as creating the atmosphere that we were going for.

• Crackling of the fire
• Wind Blowing
• Crunching of leave or stick 

Other sounds

There will be use of other sounds that we will be using while filming. These will be more to do with scene 1 (house/flashback) which are shown below.

• Background noise from the TV (music may be used instead of this but we haven't come up with any so far)

As a group we will choose the sounds which best fit with our theme and story itself to make sure that is effective as possible. We will download these off of a website that does non-copyright sounds and music or we may choose to make the sounds by ourself depending on what we all want and what would work best.

Character pictures

These are the people who will playing the main characters throughout the filming. There will also be a girl (Ellie) who we will be using in the flashback scene, however we have not go a picture to display of her.

 Joe

 Frankie

 Andreas

 Daniel

Location pictures

Here are the pictures of where we will be filing our opening scene. We choose do have this are our location as it suited our theme (Thriller) very well and thought that it would look interesting when filming the different shots.  While filming we will also be using a house to carry out the flashback scene but we have no pictures of this to show.

Filming Plan

Filming is planned to be mostly completed on the 10th of December, Friday evening.

• All cast and crew will meet in Egham at 4.20pm
• Everybody will arrive at location for Scene 2 (Field Scene, Present Day) by 5pm
• The set, makeup , costume and equipment will be completed by 5.30pm
• Time for filming ranges between 3-4 hours, making the most of the last bits of natural light. Ending at 8-9pm giving everyone time to return to the house for Scene 1

If filming runs over scheduled time, Scene 1 will be postponed to a later date and Scene 2 filming time will be extended until completion.

Risk Assessment

The biggest risk to consider in the outdoor location is that it is highly likely to snow before or even during filming. This creates two problems,

• Massive drop in temperature and the risk of more slippery surfaces. To avoid discomfort or injury, all cast and crew should dress themselves appropriately for extremely cold weather and bring some kind of hot food and/or beverage. I would consider this a relatively low risk because it is likely that everyone will already be dressed appropriately and we are only a short walk away from the indoor location if anyone has a problem.
• Slippery surfaces, this problem can be avoided if all cast and crew pay attention to their surroundings, tread carefully and most importantly wear practical footwear. I would consider this a low risk because the area is much less dangerous for someone to fall in as any paved road or high street pavement. If anyone were to occur any damage by falling, a first aid kit will be on set to treat any wounds as best as possible until professional help is available.

It is possible that an open fire will be included in our film, this presents a problem itself

• An open fire could burn someone or set something on fire if there was a mistake by any one of crew or cast. I would consider the idea of an open fire moderately dangerous because we will be constructing under safe guidelines in an area that will be either damp with rain or covered in snow so there are small risks of anything catching fire. For someone to be hurt by the fire of such small size, they would have to intentionally put themselves in the way of it which would then make it high unlikely. However, if anyone were to burn themselves somehow, a first aid kit will be ready on set to clean and dress any burns until they can be professionally tended to.

It can be tempting to consume alcohol on set under the false notion that it warms a persons body in the cold, this creates a few problems.

• Alcohol is highly flammable, to have large amounts of it around an open fire can cause considerable risk to everyone part of the filming and anyone caught in a potential fire spread. To not have alcohol will completely rid this problem.
• Alcohol can blur a persons judgement, all risks listed here are elevated considerably if someone decides to drink large amounts of it. Again, not having it on set will rid this problem.
• Alcohol, despite what is commonly believed, lowers a persons overall body temperature. The combination of a lowered temperature and blurred judgement could mean that by the time somebody realises that they feel considerably cold, it can already be dangerous. Not having alcohol will rid this problem.

The second location, the indoor flashback scene being in a normal house and no particularily dangerous things included, means very little danger is there.

Completion List Research

Synopsis - completed, requires tweaking to follow changes in ideas.

3 Film Opening Analyses - 2 completed, done by Kyle

9 Frame Analysis - to be done on "The Road", not completed, done by Kyle

Genre Research - thrillers, done by Anetta

Industry and Titling Analysis - not done. will be completed by Anetta and Amanda

Technique Research - not done, will be completed by Kyle

Poster and Website Analysis - website analysis completed by Amanda, poster incomplete, will be done by Kyle

Audience and Marketing Research - completed by Anetta

Other Research - further research into the genre, done by Anetta

-further research into sound will be completed by Amanda

-research into costume, makeup etc will be completed by whole group

-research into different title ideas for the movie, in progress

-research into website creation, in progress

Planning Completion List

25 Word Pitch - Completed by Anetta

Script for Movie Opening - Completed by Anetta and Amanda

Location Description and Stills - partially complete, will be done by whole group

Casting Description and Stills - casting complete by Kyle, will be finished by Kyle

Story Board and Overhead Plans - storyboard complete by Amanda, overhead plans in progress

Animatic For Opening Sequence - not completed, will be done by whole group

Test Shoot - not completed, will be done by whole group

Design Drawings - not completed, will be done by Anetta

Group Crew Titles (so far)

Kyle

Photographer

Crew

Filming

Research

Anetta

Sound

Props

Research

Amanda

Sound

Costume, Hair and Make up

Research

Let Me In Analysis

Today, some students, myself and the teacher went up to the Odeon up in Covent Gardens to watch a film 'Let Me In' which had a storyline of a little boy named Owen, how became friends very quickly with a girl called Abby who had moved in next door, however she wasn't the ordinary girl he thought she was as she had an evil spirit or a type of vampire that lived on blood.
How do the film makers use the camera to tell the story?
They tell the story by using a variety of shots, they ranged from POV, Long shot, Mediums shot and more. These told the story by informing the audience when a scary, intense or normal event was going to take place.
Is the camera used objectively or subjectively? is POV used and if so, how, when and why?
The camera was used both objectively as it showed us the scene without getting involved. This is used when we see the little girl sitting in an underground passage where she creates a conversation with a person who is walking by, she then asks him to carry her as she had hurt herself. Once he has picked her up she then attacked him to drink his blood. We can tell this is objective as we get the feeling that we are witnessing what is going on. 
As well as subjectively as we feel more part of what is going on, this is shown when the police man enters into the girls apartment and realises something suspicious is taking place. He finds a note on the floor revealing the girls where abouts. He then goes to the bathroom where she is and takes part of the cover off from the window to let light into the room, this wakes the girl up as she feel the slight burning sensation no her leg. This brings out her evil side where she then attacks him to drink his blood. We see this as subjective because we are watching from the little boys point of view. 
Point of view is used in the opening scene which takes place in a hospital as a police officer goes to visit a man who is severely burnt by acid which a deformed his facial features. When a policeman speaks to this other man we see that the shots blur in and out of focus, this could have been used to show how badly damaged the mans sight is as he is unable to view people clearly.
How does Mise-En-Scene reflect the themes, genre and ideology of the film?
It reflects themes by showing the girl is an approachable character but not at the same time due to her clothing that she wears. It reflects genre as we don't expect it to be a scary horror film or not to be as scary as it looks like a normal setting which leads us to think that it could just be an ordinary film. The ideology   
In the opening sequence, what codes are embedded into the titles and opening shots/scenes which signify the genre of the movie? How do these reflect or subvert the conventions of the genre?
The codes that are embedded which sets the genre are the eery music which was dramatic, the simple titles in black writing against a clear white background and then it quickly shows us a black background which slows fades in each part of the title 'Let Me In' which was coloured in a deep red colour which could represent blood will be in the film. 
Think about the use of sound. How is sound used develop narrative? How does sound add to or even substitute for image in the movie?
Throughout the film there was many diegetic sounds that were used from police sirens, talking, back ground music and very intense music. they help to create narrative as they all have a meaning in the film, it lets us know when different types of scene will happen. for example the intense music, this told us when the girl may strike her next victim toward the middle and ending of the film. It makes the film more interesting to watch due to making it more interesting, also by adding the different sounds through the film it keeps us watching to see what will happen next. For example again with the intense music when Abby was going to drink someones blood.
In what way does the film seek to appeal to a specific target audience?
I think that this film was aimed at teenagers of around 15 - 20 years of age, this is because it it more based on the children more then focusing on the adults that are in the film. As of this the teenagers are more near to the age of the children that appear in the film where they can relate to them a bit more. 

Thursday 7th lesson analysis

In the lesson we had to set up all the equipment from the lights, room layout and camera positioning. We were then split into two groups of 4 and 5 in which we had to put together a scene of a range of shots where someone walks through a door and goes to sit directly face-to-face with another character and exchanging a few lines of speech.
My group had decided on doing 8 shots that was given a mysterious atmosphere, the character who walked in through the door was the detective and the character who was already sitting down was the criminal. To get these shots more realistic we had to draw up a storyboard and write down the shots/angles, lighting and speech.
Once this was done, we needed to lay out the room to how we wanted it. However we did have a problem as we wanted the whole room to be dark in order to set the mysterious vibe but we were unable to do this so we had to find a way to work with this in our scene.
We also had to change some of the shots we used due to this set back so that we could still keep to this effect but it took much more time so we didn't meet our time target meaning we couldnt edit any of. While we were filiming this, we had the other group film us so that we could see what we were doing and for them to get some idea on how to do their scene.

Opening scenes analysis

Waterloo Road
The opening scene if filmed in a family kitchen telling us that it is interior with four characters shown. Three of the characters are in school uniforms which show they are in their teenage years who are eating breakfast. The fourth character is a middle ages woman who is on the phone wearinng formal clothes. This could suggest that she may be a business woman in the way she presents herself.
The lighting used was bright, this shows that it is during the day in the morning as we notice the characters eating cereal. Also by using bright lighting it has lit up the characters faces so we know who some of the main people are going to be in this particular episode.
Diegetic sounds are used in the opeing scene of people talking about school things and speaking on the phone, these are the two sounds that can be heard show that is a very busy morning that shows the characters as unsettled and in a rush. This tells us that their will be dialogue throughout and gives us an indication to what the story line will be about when watching.
Many shots are used in the scene from medium close up, point of view (pov), close up and more, this helps to gain people attention by making it look interesting to watch and so that we stay watching the episode. Also using these shots they also help to tell the story as well as the dialogue keeping us entertained.

City of God.

This is a very stange film, at the begininning we get a celebration vibe and this is becuase we hear background music which is very loud and many people dancing around the place. Throughout the clip there are many diegetic sounds that are heard from the more good happy vibe of music, loads of people having conversations to more serious sounds of heart beating, guns and shouting. Hearing these sounds give the audience a sense of a market place that is very dangerous due to the guns.
In the clip, the lighting that is used from dark which is shaded areas and bright which is hot areas. The dark lighting could have been used to make the characters more clear to see so that we are able to pick up their facial expressions, or it could have been done in order to show th gang's dangerous side showing that they are evil and bad. The bright lighting shows that it is hot where the film is being filmed which tell the audience that they are in an abroad country. We also pick up this piece of information as the language the characters are speaking is not recognisable.
The shots that are used are long shot to show some of the characters to get an idea of what they are wearing, close up to show facial expressions, point of view (pov) to show the chicken running away. They also cut from one shot to another quite fast, this creates a suspence and interesting vibe.
There are a range of characters that are shown in the clip, it is mostly dominated by boys which shows that this type of film is targeted at boys/men more then women. We notice that everyone is wearing scruffy clothes, this could mean that the country they are filiming in is a poor country. By showing that they are poor gets us thinking that the way they make their money is through the market which is why they are selling cooked chicken and not just as a celebration.
The protagonist character in this short film is immediatly picked out to be the gang leader who seems to be holding guns and knives, this is the danger aspect of the film showingf that there is alot of crime that goes on. The antagonist of the film would be the school boy who gets caught between the two groups people whom are the gang and the police. We recognise this as we see that he is a innocent person who was in th wrong place at the wrong time.

Opening Script.

A girl (Amy) is in a happy mood and cannot wait to get to her lesson to tell her best friend (Rachel) about the time that she has had over the weekend. We can hear the classroom atmosphere by all the children having there own conversations waiting for the teacher to enter.


Amy: (walks through the door, shown by a medium shot to show her face expressions and her mood - happy and smiling)


Amy: (starts walking towards her desk while getting ready to sit down in her chair shown by a long shot - still happy)


Rachel: (already sitting in her chair looking up at Amy following her across the room from shown from her Point of View)


Amy: (sits down in her chair next to her best friend and slowly turns towards Rachel using the 180 degree rule - her face expressions smiling but more calm now as she is in lesson)


(teacher enters the room, everyone goes quiet)


Rachel: What's up, Why are you so happy? (whispering because the teacher has started the lesson, over the shoulder shot so we can see Amy)


Amy: I'll explain to you later. (whispering too, close up) 


(end of the conversation)

Today the class and i all worked at a group together, this was so that we could learn more about lighting such as lighting people within a shot and how we use the light to create an atmosphere for the scene.
We used tripods which were used to hold the camera in position so that we could make the shot more effective and interesting to look at. To create a good shot we had to move the camera around in order to get a range of different shots while playing with the lights.
The main rule that we had to stick to was the 180 degree rule meaning that they crew were only allowed to shoot from one side of the characters so that it did not make it too confusing for the people watching it. 
We also played around with the focusing of shots again to make it more interesting and to make more then just one vibe.  Also by focusing it made the shots more clear so that the actors were more visible and clear to see creating different moods of intimidation, powerful and natural,
This was shown by two characters sitting at an ordinary table which made the shot interesting.

Analysis of Kidulthood

Kidulthood is a film produced in 2006 that is aimed for the target audience of teenagers. I done my analysis on a clip of the opening scene of the film which is shown below. When it first appear its quite dark lighting which could suggest that the weather is prehaps cold, wet and a dull day which is also represented with characters wearing coats as part of their costumes.
It also shows straight away people, more likely to be boys but we are unsure due to the camera shooting at their feet instead of face are playing football. we see that the ground is quite muddy which again suggests that there has been bad weather.
From this we seem to gather a sense of a school playground as we can hear the sound of people talking and messing around, we do not get an imidiate sense of a school as it could be a park instead although when we look closely at the boys who are playing football we notice they are wearing black school troussers which automatically puts in image of school into our heads.
The camera then goes on to a range of shots from medium shots to long shot, close ups and even looking down at and angle to view one of the characters faces. these range of shots all create a good image that keeps the watchers interested, as well as focusing in on the characters smudging the background to make us really watch them and what actions they do. not only are these simple camera shots used but also camera shots through objects which could mean hiding or like they are being spyed on from a distance, as well as the 180 degree rule where it shows two people talking from a side on view and they have used a repeating shot which shows a characer being hit three times this is different but interesting keeping the audience interested.  
When we see the characters, we notice that they are in a cage sort of thing that is located in what seems apparent in a school. this could suggest to the watchers that the people within the school are closed up and work together as a community however it could also suggested that they are confind and kept closely as a whole school.
Furthermore, the costumes not also show coats and a uniform but hoodies which could mean a gang feeling to the film. It isnt just about what clothes they are wearing but what they have as accessories. in on the the shots we she that a girl has aload of jewllery on her which include big hoods, big gold rings and chains. This gives the watchers the imidate sterotype of 'chav' which is also shown in the way they talk, lots of slang speech is used which could mean that they are poorly educated or may even be putting up an alter ego as part of their gang  background showing violence  which also shows this too.
When we watch it we can hear many sounds throughout the scene from machinery showing that they are hard working, people talking shows that it is a lively place to be, footall active and energetic and background music. These are all diegetic sounds as they are relevant to the actual scene as it help to show what the film is about more.

Six Shot Scene

Throughout the past week, my group and I have been putting together a short six shot scene. After shooting our different shots we had to edit them in order to create the final production which is shown above.
What did you find difficult in the planning?
Well I found it difficult to create what shots we would be doing and how we were going to do it. This is because we were given a random title that we then had to use in order to create a story with only six shots.
What was the most successful part of your filming and why?
I think the most successful part of the filming was that we did get the shots we wanted and done it to a good standard for our first time of doing this. This is because you can see in our short film that it does look good even though we have never done this before.
What was the effect of the restriction of not having any dialogue to tell the story?
This made it very hard as our story is not that clear due to it only being six shots. at first in our planning we agreed within the group to have little narrations on every other shot. when we were told that this would not be allowed we then had to think of how we were going to use out shot sizes/angles to do this instead.
What did you learn from editing the film?
What i learnt fro the editing is that we are able to cut out some of the material we had shot in order to make the scene flow instead of having jumps which could possibly confuse the audience. Also with the editing we realised that we could crop the shot to get rid of any thing that we didn't want to have in it.
What will you do differently next time?
Next time i think i will plan a bit more so that we are clear on what we will be doing for the scene as well as editing it with colours and play around with it to make it more interesting for people to watch it.

Media Languages Homework

      The T.V British Darma that I have based this homework on is Hollyoaks which was views on Friday 17th September. Throughout the programme it has used many different things that all belong to 'Media Languages'.
      MISE-EN_SCENE: In just the first half of the prgramme it shows a range of characters from men and woman all of different ages wearing mostly casual clothes but one charcater in particular is in a business suit. They are all based in the same sort of areas like hospitals, communal living room, toilets, bedrooms, a club and a pub that has a pond located outside it. The colours of the shots vary from dark to light which represents the different places that this has been shot in. All of this suggests that the town is full of many people meaning it is very public based which is set in everyday life that follows everyday situations.
      SIZE/SHOT ANGLES: Here they have used many shots that include medium long shots, wide shots to not so wide shots, group shots, over the shoulder shots, side shots, close ups. They have also placed with the focusing of the shots as they have points where they focused on the charactes which suggests that this was done so we actually stay watching the characters  and really listen to what they are saying. As well as focusing on the background, which could suggest that this was done in order for us NOT to focus on the characters meaning it could of been something of less importance. They also use this rechnique for fading in and out of two completely different scenes which makes it more interesting to watch as it isnt just the same thing happening over every single different scene that is within the programme. Also they have used shot angles of looking down and up to show what people are looking at although it is not in their point of view so it is like we are looking over their shoulders.  
      SOUND: At first they use background music which makes it a but more interesting to view instead of it being very boring. In the first half we get a few sounds that appear in the background such as sirens which show that it is very much the same as everyday life, music (in the club) which we would except to hear, wind blowing and echoing nosies, machines beeping in the hospital with sad music and cars . All of these sounds are diegetic meaning they all suit what we are watching in the programme.

Understanding of Media.

      Media, is given as the main title of many different ways of communication. This includes such things as: Television, Radio, Film, Newpaper, Magazines and Letters. These all belong under two different platforms Print Media and Audio-Visual Media. There is also a thrid platform known as E-Meida which consits of things that you are able to view on the internet.
      Throughout Media we gather so much information and try to absorb the range of different questions that we wish to be answered from what we visualise. By studying 'The Media' we have use our common sence to help us create an answer.
      Many people think that The Media is very simple but if we think about it long enough we are able to realise that it is more complicated then meets the eye and so by taking media i will now be able to answer the questions that i have wanted answers to and get a good knowledge on the whole topic which is used in very day life.

Amanda Cornhill.