Teacher first cut feedback

Some very good shots but this needs more clues about the main characters and how the film will develop. Add shots that show your technique - shot reverse shot / match on action etc in order to justify higher grade

good shots

good shots

 

In our group we decided that these three shots were the ones we liked the most. The one on the left is of Billy and Matt running across a wide empty field and Billy falls over I like this because it shows that they are both quite panicked and we can see that these two people are not professional or put together. The second shot is where the camera zooms out on the dead body in the woods I like this because it shows the body alone left in a big empty woods and makes it look very small. The third shot is of Billy and Matt running past a CCTV sign this is good because it could be significant later on in the film.

                           

improvements

Improvements

 

When we showed our first cut to the class we realised that we needed to make many improvements one thing we need to do is to add the credits and our company logo to the film opening. We also need to film more shots because the clip needs to be longer and we need more variety of shots. the shots we decided we needed more of was the ones with the body lying in the woods this was because we felt the blooded murder weapon needed to be more prominent, the shots of Billy washing his hands also need to be filmed again because we felt they could be done better we also want to film more shots of billy and matt to give more of an insight into who they are. We also need to remove one of the company logos because three was too many and it went on for too long. Another thing we need to do is to cut some of our already existing shots down because the clip is supposed to be very fast paced. We also need to find different music for the running scene and the when the body is in the woods because we are not satisfied with the music we have.

Rock - Road Sign Post

 

Rock - Road Sign Post

For our film idea we was originally going to use a rock as the murder weapon but when we got to Trapstyles woods on the first day of woods we saw a broken road sign post that we believed would be a better object as we could not find a decent rock to use. As the post is a silver colour we also decided that the fake blood we show up a lot clearer than it would on a rock.

current stage of editing

Current stage of editing

At this stage we are quite near to finishing the first cut of our film opening the things we have left to do is to add the music and sound effects which we do have we just need to overlay them on the video. We also need to add the rest of our clips and edit them, and then we need to add the film production companies, logos, film credits and the film name.
Once all these things are done our first cut will be complete.

extra filming

 

 

Extra Filming

Whilst editing the clips we had together we discovered that the total time was below 1 minute 30 seconds, as the project has to be 2 minutes long we did not have enough footage. We then decided that as a group we would add more flash forward clips between each different shot of Billy and Matt running away. We will take a range of different shots and then decide which few we should do.

Some of the ideas included: A shot of Matt or Billy taking off their jacket, a washing machine spinning, Billy splashing water in his face after washing his hands, Matt putting his head into his hands and finally a text saying either 'Don't tell anyone' or 'This never happened' or 'What have we done'.

We also decided we needed one more shot of Billy washing his hands.

weather problems

AS Media Studies Production: Weather Problems

 

Weather Problems

After our first day of filming we decided that we would try and film the following day. However on the saturday before we were going to start filming it started to get really windy and rain alot. The problem that we faced was that we were in the forest so it would of been dangerous for us to be filming there as the ground would of been slippery. We also had the problem of the rain hitting all the leaves on the trees and creating a very different background sound to what we started with. We are now looking ahead of tme. We are researching when the weather will be good for filming and we are going to be filming on the days that the weather issimular to what we started with.

Sounds and Music links

Sounds and Music links

Sounds for Media
These are links to all the music and sounds needed for our scene, music for when the boys are running away, static white noise for the flash forward (and for the image) and forest noises for the when the body is laying in the forest.

Running music

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NL4hpgYw5g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2pZ3zp4Cvg

Static white noise

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=El8mLrBSPlA

Forest noises

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeEahTsLLXU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWt3uGELets

AS Media Studies Production: 3rd day of Filming

AS Media Studies Production: 3rd day of Filming

                                          

3rd Day of Filming

On our 3rd day of filming we started off at the same location as last time but in a different area. To start off with we planned out all the different shots that we were going to take and compare them against the story board that we had created. Once we had planned all of our shots we started to experiment with the different angles and distances from which we should take then. After deciding we begun our filming.

After two hours we had finally got all of the shots that we needed and we were able to capture everything we needed just before it started to get dark. I think that the shots that we got are very good and are able to create the sense of panic that we were trying to show. I think that after some editing and cutting the shots we took would end up being very smooth and will follow our storyboard very well. We have now done all of the filming that we need, unless there are a few shots that need to be re-done.

editing

Editing

We are now at the point where we have finished recording and at the moment we are starting to edit our clips. We are about half way through putting the clips together however we have not yet added any sound effect or music to it however we will do this when we have put all the clips together and we are happy with them. We should be finished making our final cut quite soon.

flming day 2

         

 Filming Day 2

 

              

Our second day of filming was during our double Media Lesson on Thursday the 29th of November. During this time we filmed the flashback scene showing Billy washing his hands. He had put dirt of them to make it more realistic (he gets the dirt from when the boys were running away and he fell over). We filmed the scene in the school toilets, it was made to look as if he had found the nearest sink possible and that being a public restroom. We did three different shots a Point of view from Billy, a over the shoulder and a close up this was to show different shots every time it flashes back. Each of these flash backs will be quickly flashed onto screen as the camera zooms out from the dead body. They will be linked in with white noise and a static screen to help portray the sense of panic as Billy is washing his hands.

film production companies

Film Production Companies

The name of our group’s film production company is going to be called Trouble Productions we have yet to make a logo for it however we are working on it. One film production company I have looked at is Pathé and BBC films this is because they have produced and funded films that I think are similar to our film opening such as The Ratcatcher.

Location

Location

For our location we have chosen Trapstyles woods with the body lying in the ditch (Bottom left corner) zooming out to reveal the rest of the woods (Bottom and top right corners). The other images are images of woods and roads around the Trapstyles area, which will be used for shooting the two boys running away from the scene.

Sound and Music

 

Sound and Music Ideas

The beginging of the scene we want it to be silent other than the noises of the forest. We can not just record this as Trapstyles woods is right next to the A10 so would pick up unwanted traffic noises. This means we will need to make our own diagetic sounds for the scene including wind, leaf crunching, and crow noises to represent death. During the flash back we will need to find a noise that is non diagetic and loud to catch the audience off guard we will also need to seperately record a tap running and heavy breathing. For the boys running away we need the noises of their footprints, heavy breathing and music to add to the drama. The music we are looking to find is some loud drumming music to build tension within the scene.

Costumes

Costumes

When our group was thinking about what clothes or costumes we wanted our characters to wear we really thought hard about the type of characters we were trying to create. The story is about three young boys, one, that is dead from the start and the other two that are the murderers. We decided that the first boy should have his own identity then the other two boys could have similar identities.
 
Boy No 1.

Our first character is the boy that is dead from the start. We decided that this character is going to be quite clever so would be classed as a geek. We decided this because we needed a reason for the other boys to then attack him which caused his death. As the plot was that he would be camping we decided that the most suitable clothing for this character would be some traditional camping gear.

 

To start with we have got the walking boots, walking boots would be the most suitable shoes for a camping trip so we decided that this would be the best shoes for our character to wear. Next we have the jeans, they are just normal jeans, again they are jst a decision that we made beacaus we thought they would be suitable for the characters personality. We have then got the red shirt. We decided to have the shirt red because it is symbolising death and blood. It is also symbolising danger. Then there is just a normal camping coat that we again though would be a good thing for him to wear.

                                          

 Boys No 2 & 3

Our two other character are going to be very similar in character and personality. So we decided that they could also be very similar with the clothes that they wear aswell. We decided that our two other characters were going to be characters that acted like chavs. We also decided that they would dress like them too. To start off we decide to just go with traditional white trainers. Then the black jogging bottoms and hoodie will both symbolise dasrkness and a different side to the boys. It will symbolise that the boys are like the Grim reaper as they are wearing all black. Then the hat is just an eaxtra feature we decided to have. We will have someone wiht a red had as uit is again symbolising death and blood.

 

Film Opening Plot

Film Opening Plot

 

The camera starts off zoomed in on an object covered in bloody leaves. It then zooms out to reveal the object is in fact a human leg. The camera keeps moving up the dead body until it reaches the head when we realize it is actually in fact a human body. It then cuts to a fast moving sequence of cuts showing the two supposed killers fleeing from the scene of the crime. It then cuts several times to the supposed criminals cleaning their bloody hands in the sink.

 

 

 

Storyboard

Storyboard

This is our updated Storyboard

mind map

 

 

this is the mind map for our filom opening

 

it includes ideas for the film name, setting, costumes, visual style ect. this is so when we start filoming we have a clear idea f what we are doing.

 

 

our group

 

 

this is our group

 

 

(from left to right: Matt Elsom, Billy Saxson, Jimmy Beaton, Max Allum)

first day of filming

 

 

First Day of Filming

 
For our first day of filming we had set out a plan to try and film as much as we could. We had our storyboard set up to see what we needed to film and our camera and tripod were ready. We decided to film our opinion scene locally, we were filming in the local woods called Trap styles Woods, show in this picture.

The camera we were using was a Canon Legria FS200 with an additional microphone to be able to capture the sound perfectly.






Our first day of filming did not go quite to plan. In our story board we have go a certain way of filming those first few clips. The starting clips of the body on the floor. However when we came to filming it we couldn't find the position that we needed to get that shot that we wanted. After about 15 minutes we had got the tripod in a place that was able to make the shot look very close to what the storyboard looks like. After filming this scene we didn't feel like we had got the best shot that we could get. We kept moving our camera and tripod around to get different angles and make the body different sizes when zooming out. After an hour or two we were happy with the shots that we had got. Luckily just before it started getting dark. Instead of filming the quantity we had captured quality. We decided we would start on our other scenes in our second filming day. Overall we are very happy with the outcome of our shots.

film treatment - cover up

cover up

My film idea is a drama about two close friends both 16 years of age called Dan and rick who one day decide to have a joke by picking on a kid from their class who has a stutter, it starts off with the two friends leading the kid into the woods claiming they want to show him a dead fox, then when they get there you see them start mimicking the boys stutter as he starts to back away the boys start throwing stones at him then as he tries to run away Dan picks up a rock and smashes it against the boy head and he falls to the ground a while later they realise that the boy is dead the rest of the film is about the increasing mental strain and the different trails the two boys have to go through in order to cover up what they have done. The film is from a different perspective because you are seeing this from the villains point of view, however as we follow these two boys it give up an insight into their personal lives and their background and creates conflicting emotions and opinions about these two boys and about what they have done.

title sequence analysis



title sequence analysis



 

 

Shot 1: this shot shows the name of the two people who wrote the film avenger which I think is important because the writers don’t usually get much recognition; also the image is a close up of a knife in a white leather holder this builds anticipation and hints at what characters are going to be in the film.

Shot 2: it then introduces the director because he is very important to the making of the film this image is a close up of a belt buckle it makes you wonder who’s it is because you can’t see who it belongs to.

Shot 3: it then introduces the sound and music composer this is because the use of the sound in this film is extremely important, I like the picture in this shot because it gets you excited about the film because it is showing you something that belongs to one of the characters.

Shot 4: shot 4 gives us the name of the visual effects supervisor which again in this film is another very important and well used. Also the use of visual effects can be seen in this shot because in the background you can see iron man and the light in his chest is shining this is visual effect and so is appropriate for this shot.

Shot 5: the fifth shot includes the name of one of the actors in the film, I like the fith shot because it also includes a close up of a pair of broken glasses I like this because although it is an item that belongs to one of the characters you don’t know who’s or why they are broken so it makes you want to watch on.

Shot 6: shot six is the name of another main actor also the image that goes with it is a metal hammer with a strange pattern on it also there is some blood on the hammer which makes you wonder what’s going to happen in the film.

Shot 7:  this shot includes the name of another actor the name is written on the black bullet which makes you wonder whether it is hers.

Shot 8: In this shot there is a metal disk and some red material the fact that you don’t know what the picture is of makes you want to watch on also the colour red is used quite often in the title sequence which makes you think of danger.

Shot 9: the last shot is a close up or a bright glowing light and the text above it is telling you that the film you are about to watch is in association with paramount pictures this is done because it the last piece of writing before the film and so it is memorable.

preliminary exercise final cut

  Preliminary Exercise final cut
my group: Dan Faint, Harry Mead, Shannon Pratt and Megan McMillan

 

 

          

Evaluation of the Preliminary Exercise

As a whole I think our preliminary exercise went quite well, one thing that I thought went partially well was the match on action this went well because we made sure the continuity of the shot was sound for example we made sure that harry entered the door with one foot and came through it on the other so it looked like he was walking through it all in one and so made it look fluent. I also think our editing went very well because when we filmed it Harry and I said all of our dialogue at one then when we edited it we cut it so it looked like we were having a conversation. However one thing that didn’t go so well in our preliminary exercise was the conversation between me and Harry, for this we used over the shoulder shots I think we could have done this better because the camera was quite far away from Harry so you could see his whole head not just over his shoulder, also we broke the semi-circle rule in one shot so it looked like we had switched places in the future we will be more careful not to over step the mark. Also the sound outside of the office was very loud and inside the office I though the dialogue was a bit to quiet. I think my current level of production skill is intermediate because I can edit quite easily, hold the camera still when necessary and set the camera up for different types of shots.  





preliminary exersize report






Preliminary Exercise report

My group from left to right: Dan Faint, Megan McMillan, Me, Shannon Pratt and Harry Mead.

 

  We filmed our preliminary exercise in Mr O’sullivan’s office and we filmed it during our double media studies lesson on the 9^th of October. The people I worked with were Dan Faint, Megan McMillan, Shannon Pratt and Harry Mead. To film the exercise we used the Canon Legria camcorder and to edit we used Adobe Premiere editing software. The skills we practised when filming were match on action, (where we followed someone going through a door), we also practiced 180 degree shots and over the shoulder shots to show the two people having a conversation. We also used two shot to show the relationship between the two characters. I think the task as a whole went well however we did face some difficulties, for example the room was quite small and so it was hard to pull off some of the shots, we also found it quite hard to keep it under thirty seconds so we had to cut some scenes out.

 

storyboard

this is our first draft for our storyboard