Becky: Cinema Poster

Everyone in the group had specific poster types e.g. DVD poster, mine was to create a cinema poster. Firstly we had to draw a rough draft of what we were aiming our posters to look like; this includes the chosen font, tagline and images that will be used. It is important that each poster is cohesive with the other as all are advertising the same film, so the title and tag line on each poster needs to be the same.

 Rough draft of my cinema poster

When taking the photographs for the main image, I used my draft as a guild to angle the model to create the image I was aiming for. 

After the photos were taking and uploaded onto a computer, I opened it up on a program called Photo Shop. On this complex program I cropped the image and blacked out the background, I did this to keep the location a secret also it draws all the publics attention to the writing including the title as well as the main image. 

When this was completed I transferred the finished image to Microsoft Word 2003. As Leonie was the first person to do her poster, she created the template for all our posters; this included the font and colour of the title as well as the names of the cast and crew. 

When my image was opened onto this program I had to move and alter the size of the writing to fit around my main image, also I added some extra information including the opening date of the film.

Final cinema poster

As our target audience is adults (15+) i kept the coloures of my poster dull and not vibrant as from research most children film posters are vibrant and extremly colourful; these bright, attractive coloures anchor the younger generation to watch the film, also it draws them in; therefore i used darker and more blunt coloures as i didnt want to attract the wrong audience. As well as this, we chose a font that was simular to those that are used for the titles of period dramas e.g. Pride and Prejudice; this font works cohesively with the main image which is of the main character in her dated, Tudor styled dress; together they attract our target audience successfully.

I am pleased with the outcome of my poster; I believe that it is suitable for its purpose which is to attract and perswade the public to watch this film.

Becky: Small alterations make a big difference.

After the editing was finished, we decided to experiment with different effects to see if anything could be improved. We were able to do this as we had time to do so; it was very beneficial.

Here are the changes we made:

• Volume – We found out that adjusting the volume level draws attention to that certain section as it is louder than the other noises. We used this technique during some of the conversations to enhance the significant parts in the dialogue, e.g. the personal question about the secret relationship between the main character and a famous actor. Also we discovered that the variation in the volume increased the attention span of the audiences; kept them intrigued.

• Colour saturation – Our film is made up of 4 sections, 3 out of the 4 scenes have been changed to black and white as when you look through an old camera the image you see is in black and white, it only changes to colour when transferred onto a TV or computer. We decided to do this to make it look like untouched, raw footage, also it makes the audience feel like they are seeing what we are when we are filming. The period drama scene differs from the others as it is set in the ‘past’ also the dialogue and costumes are also set in Tutor times. From looking at older films it is clear that the colours are very strong and vibrant, this is from the technology they use to use; we recreated this affect by increasing the colour saturation to make the colours more intense. This also enhanced the difference between the old and new affect in our film.

• Added Noddy shot – Previously we only had one noddy shot of the interviewer, we felt that another one needed to be added into the interview sequence as it needed more reactions shots. Whilst doing this we discovered that we could lengthen the answer from the interviewee and overlap it with the interviewer’s reaction shot, this connected the shots together smoothly.

• Titles – More titles were added to increase the documentary feel we aimed to create. Also the font of the titles was changed from Harrington to Arial. Harrington would suit period drama styled films; this is why we previously used that font but as most of the scenes are in a documentary style we had to change it to a more appropriate font.

We are all satisfied with the final outcome; we feel that the changes have improved the film considerable.

Martyn - Storyboard Images and updates

Ooookay first things first...sorry for the lack of posts on my part...basically what has been happening recently has not been the hugest work load for me, apart from these stroyboards (which i was going to draw out but it was decided it would be better this way) i have been just helping out wherever i can, helping editing and taking pictures for the film poster, which will be posted at the same time as the poster.

Without further delay here are the storyboard images, which i shall give a little description with them, and relation to their place in the plot,

this is the very opening shot set, basically the whole set up for the disbelief, it gives the whole reality feeling right off the bat, and has a voice over describing the next shot,

which are these two images, these show the interview scene from both sides, on the image on the left above we show the main actress, Christina Rose, who is featured in the entire interview with a few "noddy" shots of the interviewer, right.

Next there is the main bulk of the film, which starts with the costume drama, played here by our storyboarder/ actress and a stand in for the actor playing Lord Thane, and continued,

here, which progresses onto,

the argument scene, one of the best in the film, i will not give any plot away but it is highly entertaining, which leads to the improvisation scenes which delve the viewer deeper into confusion.

Leonie - Done!

It is all done! My poster has been checked over and only one small thing had to be changed, but I was expecting that. It was only a box around one of my headings. Below is the picture of the finished poster:

To get all this done I used Photoshop to black out the background then inserted all the text with Microsoft Word. The review is also done, which I have stated in previous posts.

Today we finished the editing: inserting another Noddy shot finishing adjusting the titles, making some of the parts louder and changing the colours for the different parts. The first and last bits are all in black and white, a technique used by television to make it look realistic in a strange way and the costume drama was strengthened in colour. We also got another group to view our work and were pleased to say that despite our audience being more specialised for the professional film audience, they got the general gist of what was going on and one picked out everything, which was fantastic. The piece was edited down and is now ready. All that is left to go is for the rest of the group to get their posters and reviews done. Overall, I love how our video has turned out and I am relieved with the outcome after all the drama!

Becky: Photos for film posters.

With a high megapixel camera we all took potential photos that we could use for our posters. Luckily the weather was superb which allowed us to take our time during this process which resulted in a wide variety of high quality photos. 

As we had difficulty renting the dress ‘Grace’ previously worn, a replacement dress was used for these photos; even though the dress was not full length like the other, it was the same colour and was suitable for its purpose. 

As a group we shared ideas and took more photos than we previously thought which we benefited from as it gave us a wider variety to choose from. 

Here are some of the photos that we had captured:

When we have decided which caption we want to use, we will use Photo Shop to edit the pictures to make then more suitable for their purpose; image for a poster. Editing such as blacking out the background, zoom in/out as well as erasing objects can be used.

Becky: Editing Update.

Today I completed the editing including the titles with the assistance of Craig (Director), we are both happy with the outcome. All that needs to be added now is suitable music to complete the film. 

In the first half of our film there is a voice over narrated by Martyn, we had recorded this before however after listening to it whilst the footage was running we decided that the accent needed to be altered to sound more realistic.

Leonie - Storyboarding and Editing

First of all, a quick update on what is happening. There are a few odds and ends that need sorting out: the group will need a copy of my poster for them to use as a template so that all of them are the same, Martyn needs his storyboard, which still is not done and the editing needs to be done.

As Martyn doesn't have his storyboard yet, we had to construct one today, him and me. Both Ian (our stand-in actor) and I acted out certain parts whilst Martyn took the photos for his storyboard. I need to get a copy of these photos so I can write the captions on what the kind of shot sizes are. It is late and tedious on top of all the editing we have.

As for the editing, Becky completed the captions or titles that came up during the film with my help and wrote the credits using my guide. There is a slight issue with our crew because I was the one who: sorted out the costumes, cast the characters etc so I think the best bet would be to fill the gaps in with other names to make it look less odd. Overall, so far I am pleased with how the film is going. Now much needs doing as it is a documentary piece so not much editing at all is needed for this, so we should be done in the next week or so, fingers crossed!

Craig: Review and Poster (III)

The drafted review is done! Below is a screenshot containing what the last section looks like at the moment.

This will be changed into Publisher once this has been checked over and any required changes have been made. In the ways of content, the final section discusses characters and whether they worked or not, comparing it to other films of its genre(s) as well as a general closure consisting of what questions it leaves in the viewer’s minds once leaving the screening of the film. In the ways of the poster, all that has to be done now is literally combine the picture and the template together and hit print. The full review will be put up once finalised.

Craig: Review and Poster (II)

We’ve been making slow but sure progress with reviews and posters today, with the majority of the review done now and the posters nearing completion. The conclusion has been, with the film posters, is that most of them will be done on a pitch-black background, with the titles and other information at the top and bottom of the picture. Filming has now been complete and Becky is making a fine job of the editing so far. We are hoping that the editing will be completely finished by the Easter Holidays, if not, the first week back.

Leonie - More Editing!

Today we got through a lot of footage. It is all edited now, the shots interlinked. Becky and I discussed a lot about titles and what we wanted out of it. We decided to get rid of the 'Grace', flowing title and create bold headings. I had already known this was going to happen, as it is a documentary piece and the titles are:

• Pre-Production - the interview and names rolling underneath
• Production - Grace/costume drama piece
• Post-Production - Producer/Director piece

These titles will come up before each part. We also looked at the credits. I informed Becky of what I have scripted and we will apply them to the piece next lesson. However, I still have the issue of music. No one else seems to have any ideas and I am rethinking my idea of the costume piece having music. As it is a documentary, I was thinking of running the sound straight off. Martyn used my script today to record the voice over for the first part befor the interview. So, instead, over the weekend I will compile a few sound effects and such that Becky can play around with whilst editing.

Side Note - My poster I feel is now done and the rest of the group can use the outline for their own posters. I just need to get it checked and that is another thing off my list!

Leonie - Editing Update and Poster

I am almost there with my poster! After spending the other lunch time in the editing room blacking out the back ground of my picture, I can finally show the world the skeleton of my poster...

The fingers took a long time, having to zoom into a pixel at a time to get it perfect. However, it was all worth it and I was very pleased with how it came out. I decided to use this image as I think it has a lot of imbedded connotations within it. I was going to go with a typical costume drama image but I guess I wanted to really incorperate the idea of the camera into my poster. The other group members have aspects of the period drama but as my poster is an advertisement for an upcoming release (a general poster) for the film, I decided to add a little mystery.

I have spent considerable time looking over general movie posters, whatever genre and I know they use mystery to drag the viewer to watch it. Therefore, I think my poster is ambiguous, in the fact there is just a video camera and a hand reaching down to take it. There are many references that can be embedded into the image such as the long, unclothed arm that could signify sexuality and draw people in with that idea and the camera seemingly linked with that. It is playing along the lines of sex but can also relate so much to our film. People can take it two ways, seeing the sexual part or the overall mystery of the image.

Now, this is only the skeleton of the poster and I have been working on the title, tagline and bottom credits. It's almost done, I just need to fiddle around with a few aspects, as I am a perfectionist!

As for editing, it is going to my script almost perfectly, which is a surprise in itself. The group were all aiding the editing today, giving our opinions. Also, last night I was thinking about our costume piece, where we placed the credits and couldn't believe what a stupid decision that was. I scripted the costume piece so it would be in the middle of a drama, a feature length and yet we have opening titles there. I voiced my views on the matter to the group and we all agreed to put them at the start. I am very excited to see the whole things completely edited.

Music is an issue. I have tried so many websites for music but can't seem to find anything to suit the piece. Even NewGrounds had nothing we want...but I will try again to see if there was anything good I missed.

Above, Martyn and Becky editing on the computer.

Craig: Review and Poster

Today we’ve all begun our film reviews. So far, the introductory paragraphs has been written, which consists of a very brief plot summary, as well as brief details into the storyline, settings as well as the themes of the films and whether these work or not through what has been filmed. In addition to film reviews, we have begun our film posters, after problems with getting the equipment required to do so. Pictures have been taken and are now in the editing process. Once finished, each of the posters will provide a slight insight to the film without giving too much away.

Leonie - Posters!

Today we got a lot done! First of all, we got the camera and started to take pictures of the main actress (me). Also, thinking outside the box a little, I suggested poses and actions that had the camera inside, to mix contemporary with the here-and-now. After taking loads of pictures so we had a vast variety to choose from. I knew immediately what my picture would be from the selection. There was one, mixing the camera with the actress.
We then continued editing and we have the first interview part now in loose, ready for more in depth, detailed editing. It looks very good and with having the loose rough-cut of the second and final part of the rest of the video, we are almost half way there, which is exciting!

When the group disappeared, I decided to edit my picture. A black background would make it more professional-looking and would also cut out any useless background images the camera picked up. I spent little over an hour making sure the picture was perfectly blackened out, even going pixel by pixel! Yes, it was tedious but trying to get it perfectly outlined – especially the hand – proved rather tricky. However, in the end it all got done, just need to get the titles and everything done, which should all be done by the end of this week.

Also, I have been looking into music on a site called http://www.freesound.org/, where people upload royalty-free music. You can download it all legally, just music and sound effects that people have uploaded onto the site. So far I haven't found anything that we can use for the short film for the period drama. Perhaps we just need some violin music? I will try and find more tomorrow.

Leonie - Movie Poster Research

As we are shooting our pictures tomorrow for the posters, I have been looking at movie posters that should be used as templates or just an idea of what we could use. As a fan of period dramas, it is second nature for me to look at such posters. As we are going for the trick of the period drama poster, to fool the audience, we decided all of the posters would be of that natures. Now, a few period drama posters that stand out for me are:

The Duchess poster is empowering with its golden, royal colours. It has the female in the centre, signifying her stance in the film, very much like Grace in our drama. Her husband is to the right and the mistress is the back left. These all have underlying meanings of when they stand in the film.

Again in Pride and Prejudice, the female is in the centre, face turning to the male behind her, also her love interest. This is an interesting poster with the strip providing two scenes, a love scene almost and then below a flowing landscape. It is a very beautiful, intricate poster. This is mirrored almost exactly in the Becoming Jane poster.

This, also set in the Regency period, mediates two females instead of a male and a female, breaking the trend. It is a sure sign there is female independence in the film industry and this successfully mirrors this.

Overall, I feel this allows us a wide range and we are right in only using the main actress for the posters to signify her importance in the drama piece as a whole, as well as the entire movie. Setting her in the centre may be a good idea as this could stand for dominance. Also, extra shots of rolling fields or such could possibly be intergrated into the background. Roll on tomorrow!

Leonie - Costume Problem Sorted!

I am very pleased to say I found almost an exact replica of the dress we used on set so we can take the photos for our posters. This should take place earlier next week and I cannot wait to get my hands on the pictures and get them blown up for everyone to see. The dress only cost £5, which is a bargin in itself, as you can see below!

Perfect or what? Honestly, it must have been stroke of pure luck to find this!

Leonie - Costume Problems

I'm quite at a loss at the moment because the costume place hasn't got the costume. They said they will give us notice it it arrives in the next 24 hours. So, plan B! Tomorrow I will go up town and see if I can find a similiar dress, which is going to be hard.

Today I scripted the title sequence and came up with the name for our company: Utopia Vision Productions. Martyn and I have been looking as possible logos and such to pkace on our credits. I have decided the title sequence will roll in the costume drama as it will go with the reality aspect. So tomorrow...costume time!

Above is picture of the title sequence in rough.

Becky: Editing.
Today I have started to edit the second piece of footage, so far I think that it will be the ideal, opening scene for our film. As well as before, I am pleased with the quality and amount of raw footage created; it allows me to play about with the footage to produce a smooth flowing film.

After this section has been edited, the next step is to combine the two sectors together successfully. It is extremely important that they connect together cohesively to create one piece, otherwise it will just feel that two different pieces of footage have been forced together unwillingly. This could potentially ruin the believability factor of our film and would destroy the natural flow we are aiming to create.

As I was absent yesterday I was unable to attend the filming session. I am very grateful that the rest of my group were understandable and informed me with everything I have missed. Just highlights the fact that as a group we work very efficiently together.

Becky: Editing and Rough cuts.

Throughout the raw material, different shots from close ups to long shots have been used to make the film more intriguing. Each shot has a purpose for example close ups allow high quality detail to be visible but less objects are present in the overall shot, this draws the viewers concentration to that specific object. As well as this it keeps the surroundings a secret. In contrast long shots are the opposite and allow the viewers to be informed where the location is and what the surroundings are like.

After the filming has been completed and it has been transferred to the editing software, a rough cut can be produced. A rough cut is when all the raw footage is packed together in order to give the editor a taste of what the film may be like, also to be able to see if there are sections that need to be changed. The footage can be altered and improved by editing, shots can be shortened, extended as well as crops and zoomed into, this can enhance the quality of the footage, however the gaps can not be filled by primary footage that is non-existing. Editing can only be used to enhance raw footage not to create it.

We put together rough cuts for the same purpose and discovered that we were missing something; the film did not have all the crucial camera shots needed to make the film more interesting.

We had no choice but to plan another filming session, this time the footage will include all the camera shots we previously missed out.

Overall Feeling.

On a positive note the footage that we have gathered was superb and matched our initial idea of a ‘film inside a film’ brilliantly. As a group we are very pleased with the footage we have so far, combing it with the extended section should bring the whole film together successfully. 

The contrast between the period drama scene and the ‘current’ (today’s) scenes are extremely noticeable, from vocabulary to style the variation between both eras are clear, and I believe that the way we have presented the two periods has enhanced the differences.

Leonie - Editing and Poster Update

Today I took the job on to look at the footage from yesterday and script a voice over for the actress arriving on set. It goes as follows, "10:34 Pre-Production and actrss Christina Rose is making her way to the set of Grace, where later on today the period drama will be shot." And then, "MBH News Crew caught up with our star before the filming."

Also, I know that I will have to script the opening title sequence. We have decided to do that part last as we are still in decision whether to put the titles up during the Pre-Production or during the actual Period scene to furthen that abstract reality theme. Personally, I think the Period scene would be best and using a fancy font such as Harrington, we can create a good looking piece of title sequence.

First, I will introduce the characters and their actor names beneath them, followed by the title. Also, I am thinking of using more titles during the Producer and Director scene but I will see what it will look like. The end credits will be easy to make and I will set that as my task for tomorrow whilst the editing is going on.

As for the poster, the Director, Craig, should hopefully get the costume tomorrow. So we can get the photos done on saturday for our film poster. Fingers crossed the costume will be there!

Editing sequence

Filming - Leonie

We managed to film today, after adjusting it after Becky was ill. We had to film because otherwise we may be waiting ages just to film one part. So, Martyn, Craig and I modified it so only the actress would be interviewed and this would reflect the relationship side. It looked great in the editing room and we pieced together a quick edit to get a rough view on it.
My review is done and next comes the poster, which means I need to either hire out the dress or find another one. The review went all to plan and it is a perfect copy ready for examination so I am very happy.
Loved today and the footage we came out with. Now, for the editing!
With the review, I expanded the article to review two other recently released, popular short films. This is to make the review look more editorial or magazine like. So I made the film review page a special on short films.

Here is my completed review.

Here is the double version of the article, featuring my main article.

Leonie - Rescheduling and Film Review

Just a quick update on the filming process. Due to circumstances, we had no way to get to the filming equipment today so we have had to reschedule it for next week when we can. In my eyes, it gives the actors a lot more time to get their improvisation parts up to scratch. Let's hope that next week we can get hold of the equipment and get the filming completed!

Anyway, one of the key points is that we get a film review done of our media production. I felt that we had enough footage to at least start on it. So, I outlined areas I need to focus on and needed to take a certain view to it. As an English student as well, I feel this benefits me in this, and I want to take an aloof response with a hint of humour in for good measures. I will set out my review like this:

• Introduction
• Setting and insight to what it is all about
• Short summary of events
• Negative aspects of the film
• Costume (large factor as costumes are a large part)
• Actors
• Comparison to other films
• Finishing paragraph, summing it all up

I know a few of the comparisons I can put in already, such as Shakespeare's "A Midsummer's Night Dream", "The Office" and "The Blair Witch Project". In my opinion, I do think our film works as a whole so I know my review will reflect that. After this I can focus on the film poster, which means getting hold of the costume from Incognito!

Filming tomorrow - Leonie

Well we are filming tomorrow and today I took my time to outline a few questions for the interview sequence tomorrow. I have almost finished my film review, leaving a few parts to see how tomorrow turns out. We decided that both Becky and Martyn should wear slightly gothic clothes to give a different aspect to the film as a whole. Also I managed to get someone to be the voice of the interviewer that was going to be a Crew member in our original ideas. So Ian Amos will take the role.
Now everything is sorted, I can only hope this one will turn out well! Wish us luck!

Review - Leonie

Well the last few weeks can only be described as hectic! Along with illness, group members being off and a half term smack bang in the centre, the production process has been very slow. Though, during the last few weeks our group has been looking over the footage we shot as our final piece and came to a conclusion that it wasn't going to work and fit in with our theme at all. So, we took the half term to gather any ideas we had and try and figure out a way we can make this work.

Our recently shot footage will now be taken off and instead we are going to film in two days time during the day an interview sequence with our 'Personal Assisstant' to the main actress and 'Cameraman'. This will give two extra twists to the project: the idea of a relationship forming between the people mimicing the 'Producer' and 'Director' in the final scenes and another twist to the reality.

The reality will be played about with as during the other scenes, the main actress seems to fit in and is likeable but the PA paints a different picture. This will be shot in a documentary sequence also so that it flow with the rest of the film sequence. The two will be interviewed by a voice behind the camera and we will use improvisation for the answers, based loosely off the scripted questions. That means I will have to run down a list of possible questions and pick the best ones. However, I will make these loose questions because I know improvisation can easily be taken a different way to where questions are heading.

So, I am overall excited about our new idea and I think it will work much better than our other idea. Now that our batteries are recharged, I'm sure that we can pull this off easily!