GROUP B

Martyn - Evaluation of Production

2010-04-20T22:41:00.000+01:00

Evaluation of Production, how we challenged use and conventions of media productions

Our Production comprised itself upon many twists and turns within its narrative structure, almost to throw the viewer off balance when trying to deduce the meaning behind the film, this is achieved by using a variety of shot types, locations, actors and acting styles. These shots consist of shots found within short films yet used sometimes at the same time, with static professional looking shots being used within some parts and joggy documentary styled shots within the bulk, almost looking amateurish but really a clever ploy on the viewer.

The use of soundtracks did play a large part within the structure of the film, not because of it’s inclusion but by how it solidifies on one genre of film, which in turn when the genre changes will throw the view off balance. The use of a classical piece within the first few minutes with a transformation to a voice-over is a classic example of this. The use of costume, falling into the category of mis-en-scene, is also used in this film, not as much as would have been seen in other films dedicated to the costume drama genre, but still a respectable amount, and with it still looking period accurate was also a great boost. Speaking in terms of lighting the film was not really contrast in the usual sense, it was rather light throughout, with not too much glare from the sun, which was a bit of a problem during filming, and good matching of colours to the period of the day.

We used a fair few settings within the film, using about four or five, more than some short films, who usually use a maximum of two or three, and all were done on a budget, which turns out was nothing, which explains the majority of the film taking place in outdoor locations, which judging by the shorts I have seen personally, it’s not seen as that much of a big deal, meaning that it’s not an immoral thing to do, the only problem we had, was the weather it was rather cold to say the least.

Like I said before, short films tend to keep to as least amount of main characters as possible and we tried to replicate that, our main characters predominantly being the two ‘actors’ and the ‘production team’, and most of these actors will never be known for acting ever again, but a few move towards acting as a profession, and this how many celebrities start out, which we sort of paid a little homage to within our piece.
Representation is shown for the characters as would be stereotypically accepted, with the Hollywood ‘star’ as being rather arrogant, annoying, maybe even a little bit angry with a short fuse, which we had an easy source of inspiration from recent times such as the actor Christian Bale’s now famous rant on the set of Terminator Salvation. The couple are shown as one of any rowing couples seen in stereotypical marriages, with the woman being the clear dominant one and the husband being rather weak and weedy. There doesn’t seem to me to be any dominant age group in the film, yet I do feel that the film is class dominant, in this case the Middle class is dominant, I can’t help but feel it’s from the Costume drama section.

There is definitely a theme to our film; it is based around the structure of reality, the perceptions of people and the basis of love, we were asking the questions on a “What if…?”…or “What is?” line, we toyed around with a few concepts but eventually found that it love would be the best to use. It was inspired by ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ which is based on perceptions and love.

Ancillary Texts and Final Product Effectiveness

The Ancillary texts add depth to the film experience, which assists in the effectiveness of the genre switches that go on, by not giving away too much to the plot it does give people an expectation to the film which is totally disregarded once the film is in effect, this is most effective through posters and reviews.
Each one of the posters created were inspired from the film with a clear view of not giving any plot away but to draw the viewer in to essentially get them in to find out the plot for themselves, the posters can be used to guess the plot type but we were sneaky as we played on what people would expect to see and then show them something else. Once people are aware of the film many would attempt to acquire as much info on the film as possible before their first viewing, given that this was a possibility we wrote film reviews as would not give away much of the plot, in a perfect world there would also be a trailer to go with a film such as this, if it were a full length feature film, but as this is a short film, I feel it would have been redundant and may have given too much plot away.

Promotion is key to getting a film seen in the cinema, yet for this process directors and distributors must be a bit biased and show all the best parts in a trailer, a poster or, if they can get the influence, a film review, yet this is highly un-common, it would only be seen if the owner of the film company owned a newspaper company also, for example a Rupert Murdoch Figure, most film reviews have to be neutral in order to get a fair analysis, yet there are some which are more positive in order to bring in more viewers to bring in more money, they will not be completely positive but there will be a better feel to the review.

Advertising for a film can be a bit problematic, there are two possible options, one is to go the cheap way, advertising in the middle of the country away from the intended cinemas, or the expensive way, by advertising right near the cinema and having everyone see it. Advertising can be expensive or cheap, depending on the type of directors or how much money is available, there is a possibility of a compromise yet this would be problematic.

The ancillary texts for our group are of a very professional standard, the posters are of a very high quality, with the possibility of being full sized and the reviews are written to a high standard also.

New Media Technologies Used

We used a variety of new modern technology in the process of making this film; we probably would not have been able to do most of this film without it, the cameras for example were digital, very easy to upload to our editing software and very easy to use, whereas if we were using analogue cameras we would have had problems with upload times and usage. To create the film posters a digital camera was used, a Fuji Finepix s5100, and Adobe Photoshop Pro 4.For editing we used Magix Movie Edit 11, which was relatively easy to get the hang of as we all were present at some editing sessions it did seem like it would be an easy program.
The internet and satellite technologies of the modern age helped very much in organising us for film days as without it we would have found it difficult to find places to film and to communicate.

Audience Feedback

As the group is showing the film to different types of audiences I thought I would experiment and do a comparative test, one age group very young and one middle aged, as to see who would get the message better, or at all, and surprisingly they younger group grasped the concept better than I would have hoped, some thought it was just an extra piece to go with the film and others found it to be really clever once it was explained to them that is. The older generation had to have a little more explanation as they were completely confused from the first viewing, so with a little time to reflect they got there in the end, as this selection of people was not of the film buff category they did not have a great deal of analytical prowess but few were helpful none the less.
Darrill aged 43 said “I found that the structure was slightly confusing, but it was nice all the same,”
Andrew said “Although it is amateur made it has a great deal of potential and has a great set of people, I just wish there was more of the couple rowing.”
All things considered I think most of the people asked really enjoyed the experience, not just the adults but the kids as well, yet it was a shame that there were not any different classes of people, yet there was nothing that could be done about that.

2010-04-20T17:05:00.006+01:00

Becky: Film Evaluation.

Ways that ‘Grace’ is similar and different to the

typical short film conventions.

Short films started to appear in North America in the 1910`s and has evolved considerably fast since and has became increasing popular. Short films vary from live action to animation, however Comedy was extremely popular, famous comedians such as Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and others are well known for staring in the early short films. Mediated

Even though the themes of short films vary, its narrative structure stays relatively the same. Similar to main stream films, there is a beginning, middle and an end to it; however everything is more compact as there is less time to mediate to the viewers. Frequently short films have twists and unexpected outcomes as well as fast pace sections and moments that are included to make the viewers jump; all of these important techniques keep the viewers intrigued and keeps them interested. In our film ‘Grace’, we included twists and changes from old to new to keep our viewers interested, also it tests them on what is real? This is similar to a variety of Shakespeare plays such as ‘Much Ado About Nothing’, as it tests the audience on what they perceive as real. This means that our film even though has a unique set up and theme, still fits comfortably in the typical narrative structure of most short films.

Unlike mainstream films the overall number of characters are very small; allot of short films such as ‘LoveField’ by Mathieu Rathe and ‘Post – It Love’ directed by Simon Atkinson, only have two main characters. In our film we have one main character which is ‘Grace’ as she is present in every scene. There are other characters present in the film including the over confident director.

In conclusion the amount of characters in short films are significantly smaller than the vast amount of characters in main stream films such as ‘Final Destination’. As well as this, the characters in short films are not usually well known, however actors/actresses may have started their career playing roles in short films, but as it would have been before than became famous, at the time they wouldn’t have been well known. The reasons why famous actors/actresses don’t appear in short films are because, short films aren’t widely published also do not make as much money compared to main stream films. This is the main reason why we do not have any famous people in our film.

The low budget that is set for the making of short films are one of the reasons why there are only a couple of locations featured in the films. As well as this the locations are usually outdoors in public areas as it provides a wider space to film also it is usually free. This was the same with our film as the majority of the shots were filmed in a park with open land. However our interview scene was set indoors in a minimalistic, bright open room; this room was available to students so did not cost anything.

By watching a variety of short films prior to the production of ‘Grace’ it was apparent that not all shots were filmed on tripods as some shots were shaky and unsteady. This technique is ideal for documentaries as it brings a realistic feel to the film. Also as most documentaries are filmed outside, the majority of the land is uneven; if the tripod was used for each individual shot, it would have to be altered to assure that it was level, overall this would take up a lot of precious time. We used this technique in the last section of our film as we were aiming to trick the audience to think that it was a real documentary, but it was highly constructed and planned just as much as the other scenes but wasnt edited as much to enhance the natural, real affect. The other scenes such as the period drama section and the interview scene were clearly staged and planned as the camera was waiting for the main character to arrive; this is the same in most programs and films such as Top Gear. What we see may look real and untouched but the footage we see has been retaken many times and edited before shown; even documentarys are constructed and planned as it has a start and an ending, also we only see what the director wants us to see.; we are not shown what is happening behind the camera.

Also the majority of short films are not dominated by dialogue but by imaging and footage, this means that the viewers have to concentrate more to understand the plot. Grace differs as it is dominated by dialogue, this is because the complex plot needed it to make it comprehensible otherwise each individual scene would not have any meaning to the next one.

Similar to main stream films, posters are available for the public to see at special occasions such as film festivals, also they are highly accessible on the internet; posters are a source of advertisement and are produced to invite and persuade the public to watch their short film. The posters are usually simple with one main picture or drawing as the main attraction point, however this picture/drawing varies from a person or object to a location. My poster has one attraction point and that is a photo from behind of the main character ‘Grace’ surrounded by blackness; I decided to black out the background to keep the location a secret, also it draws all the attention to the image and the title, which is bold and bright.

GodFather Death by Star Wipe Films

This film poster is simular to mine as there is one focus point which is the main image, also this image is surrounded by darkness.

The combination between ‘Grace’ and the effective ancillary texts.

Ancillary texts such as posters and reviewers can make or break a film. It is vital that the poster matches and connects with the film; the theme or image on the poster needs to relate to the film as it is advertising it to the public and marketing the film. There are different types of film posters from cinema to DVD posters, each are cohesive and connects with each other as well as the film, this includes the font of the title and information. It is important that the title is in the same font and colour for each poster as it brings them together, as well as this it plays the same part as a logo for a company; people remember the name of the film. Also it is crucial that the text is clear and easy to read, to assure that the public are able to read it with ease.

It is important that the information such as the dates the film will be released, the cast and crew names as well as the title of the film are clearly present on the posters, as these dates informs them when the film is available for them to watch and potentially enjoy. My individual poster included all these essential parts of a typical cinema poster. As well as this, the image I decided to use was captured by a high quality camera which enables the poster to be blown up to the size of a real cinema poster, however this would be very costly, so the majority of short film producers create smaller, cheaper posters.

Each film has a specific target audience which can vary from a certain age group or gender to people which a certain job description or interest e.g. archaeologist may have a greater interest in historic films such as Gladiator or Jurassic Park. Anchoring a specific audience can be done by designing the poster to suit its target audience e.g. for a children’s film, animated characters and bright colours are often used to attract the younger generation.

Each person in our group designed and created their own poster, Leonie and Martyn amplified the modern side to our film by including an image of giant video camera, where as Craig and me based our posters on the period drama section. By doing this we have expanded our target audience, as people who are interested in media studies and the filming industry will be influenced to watch the film by the image of the camera, where as others may enjoy period dramas which will connect better with mine and Craig’s posters.

As well as film posters, reviews play a significant part in the success of a film as negative reviews can persuade other people not to watch the film. However positive film reviews can encourage the public to watch the film as if a group of people enjoyed watching it, they may like it too. Also it is important who requests the film such as specific newspapers or magazines e.g. Vogue or Heat magazine may request a ‘Chick Flick’ which may persuade viewers who are intensive readers of these magazines to watch the film. We all created our own reviews for our own product ‘ Grace’; as we produced it ourselves we would not want to write a negative review as it would be difficult to do, also would reduce the amount of viewers, so each member of the group wrote positive reviews which in the filming industry would attract potential viewers.

Audience Feedback

Each member of the group has a copy of our film ‘Grace’; to receive other people’s opinions about our film we were assigned to present our short film to a variety of people, from different ages and gender. I previewed our film to 6 people who were separated into two groups and asked for their individual opinion. To assure that they tell their honest opinion I did not inform them that I was part of the making of the film they were going to see. Here are their reactions and opinions:

Stewart Aged 45: “The film was different from anything I have watched before. I have never watched short film until now; I can see why they are getting more popular as they can be watched in your free time. The film defiantly tested me on what I thought was real; all of it was believable which made the directors cuts a surprise, good twist”

Jacqueline Aged 67: “I enjoyed the period drama section allot. I never knew that short films exists so I have not watched any so it is hard to compare to an actual film, however the period drama section reminded me of books by Jane Austen as frequently older men marry or attempt to marry women that are considerably younger in them.

Matt and Megan aged 18, both study Media Studies at college: “We think the usage of a hand hold camera worked well as it gave the film a documentary appeal, also made it feel more believable, it reminded us of the film Clover Field which is an awesome film. We have never seen a short film like this, the plot is defiantly unique”

Daniel aged 21: “Grace really tested me on my perception of realism because at first I thought it was a documentary but the ‘cuts’ made me rethink, what was real, or was it all fake? The argument scene was my favourite, if it was fake then they are really good actors because I totally believed that it was real”

Tasha aged 16: “At first I didn’t really get it, but after talking with Daniel I realised what the people were trying to do, test us on what we believe is real and fake”

I decided to choose these six people as there is a variety of age, includes both genders, also have people with cinematic knowledge (Matt and Megan). I am pleased with their feedback as the majority of what they said was positive. This makes me even more pleased of our short film we have produced. Also as most of them understood the plot, our target audience is appropriate as all are over the age of 15. I have learnt that our film accomplished what we previously aimed it to do, test the audience on what they perceive as real.

New Media Technologies

Throughout the whole process of researching and planning for the film ‘Grace’ as well as evaluating it, was submerged in new technologies from the internet such as Firefox to programs such as Photo Shop and Magix Movie Edit Pro.

Photo Shop

(Used for film poster)

Magix Movie Edit Pro

(Used to edit our film 'Grace')

Right at the beginning of the process a high amount of research had to be gathered before even thinking about our film. This research was extremely important as it gave us a better understanding of the filming industry from successful directors who started off directing short films e.g. George Lucas and David Lynch, to different programs such as Edit pro, which is an editing program that I used to develop the raw footage to create smooth flowing scenes.

A new type of technology that I had never used or done before was blogging; at first I was apprehensive that it will be very complex and hard to use, but after practice and many posts later, I got the hang of it and now believe that it is a great way to keep an online diary of this whole process.

There are many benefits of new technology including:

Can keep in contact with friends and family overseas for free via Email.
Photos captured by a digital camera can be uploaded onto a computer which then can be transferred to a CD which can keep the images in better condition. Also the quality of picture has improved overtime, as now they can be captures in high definition.
Recent technologies such as 'Sat Navs' have replaces the use for hand held maps; they aim to get their owner to their destination safely.

Even though technology has ‘improved’ our way of living, it has caused and created alternative problems such as:

Instead of people going out to talk to someone or send a letter, they can just send an email or speak on Instant Messenger (IM); things can be planned without exiting the house, yes these methods are less time consuming but what has happened to face-to-face communication?
Expensive: New technologies are normally connected some way or another to computers and the internet, this means that the consumer will have to pay to have excess to it, also the electricity bills will increase as its usage of it would have amplified. As well as this, if the computer isn’t fully protected (which can cost) and has access to the internet, viruses can be transferred which may result in the computer/laptop breaking.
Cause accidents: Since mobile phones have become extremely popular, many more road traffic accidents (RTC) have occurred; frequently they are linked to mobile phones being used whilst driving.

As technology is growing it is apparent that camera sizes have decreased and are now designed to be light and easily portable. The video camera we used to film our footage was no larger than an individual pack of tissues; not so long ago the smallest camera was very heavy and extremely chunky, this just enhances how much technology has evolved. Now there are HD TV’s and cameras which also have usb connections, it is amazing, yet slightly scary how fast technology is improving; new electrical products are being designed and manufactured every day.

2010-04-20T16:06:00.002+01:00

Becky: Film Review

I have designed a film review in the style of the ones available in magazines. To gain a better understanding on how they are presented I looked through a variety of magazines. I discovered that they are usually rather simple and minimalistic, with only one or two images which are linked to the film.

My review is about our film ‘Grace’, it includes both negative and positive points and gives an insight of what the film is like and about. However it was important that I did not reveal too much about the film, as it would have ruined the surprises and twists in it.

Below is a photo of my final film review.

My film reiview is an independent review which if published would be printed in magazines such as the 'Film Review' which is specifically designed for film fanatics. The design of the review itself is minimalistic with only one image, i designed it this way to reduce distracting the readers from the text and information. Also the title is simple yet appropiate; the blue colour of the title symbolises the blue sky which connects extremly well with the name of the page; to enhance this a small image of a sun is added. The background colour of my review is grey; i decided to use this specific colour as it is plain and dull which will allow the reader to read the information easly. If the colour was bright e.g. red or yellow, it may create difficulty for the reader to see and understand the text, also it would attract and anchor the wrong audience as from research bright colours attract the younger generation.

Craig: Final Evaluation

2010-04-20T15:28:00.002+01:00

Right, we’ve finally come to the evaluation, it only seems like a few weeks back when we started this whole project and days when we were out in the freezing cold filming this, thankfully, it is much warmer now, and it’s time to look back on the project as a whole.

How our product challenges, use, and develop forms and conventions of real media products

In the film itself, there are multiple twists, throughout various places, and the different shots help to show this, through news report style in the first section, which is very highly constructed, with the edits, and how it flows pretty much like a normal documentary, and gives the feel still of whether there is mass editing or not, with clearly arranged sections, like the part in the car, and also when the actress comes out of the car. Whereas, the second section is pretty much a static camera, and is very clearly staged, followed directly by what appears to be a documentary, which can be shown to be slightly more real, due to the fact that the camera is constantly behind the action throughout the shot, there is also swearing, and also, that whole section was done in 1 shot. Due to the considerable number of twists, the shots appear to be very quirky due to the number of handheld shots and regular shot sizes combined together. This is fairly unusual for a short film, as they usually consist of one or the other, not both. The irony is, the whole thing is heavily constructed! And this returns to one of the themes, is anything real? With film, can anything be not constructed? The answer is no, no matter how random a piece of film is, there is always some way to construct the footage, with shot sizes and types, editing, and so forth.

However, likewise with a short film, main characters are kept to a minimum, and only 4 can be identified, the two ‘actors’ and the two main members of the ‘production team’. The characters used are massively stereotypical of what they should be, and in real life, are not known, as are most actors in short films, and most of the ones that are known only appear in short films before they were major Hollywood actors or actresses. Short films are used as a stepping stone for actors and directors to reach the big time. Representation is what is pretty much expected from the characters, the ‘Hollywood star’ is very annoying, and arrogant. The couple are shown to be what appears to be a standard family household, with the woman very dominant and fed up with her husband, whom she feels, is pretty much useless and too commanding. As a whole, females are shown as the dominant gender throughout the majority of the film. No specific age is particularly shown to be dominant, but the very young and the old are not shown at all in the product. Middle-class dominates the film, with working class appearing to be non-existent and upper class characters acting arrogant and also not getting what they want solely through money. White people and heterosexuality also dominates the film massively with anything else being non-existent.

Soundtracks were used throughout the film, with a voiceover used early on, which usually occurs in a documentary, but rarely in a short film, and with classical music used at the very beginning of the film as well. Mis-en-scene was also used regarding costumes massively; the whole costume drama section was costumed to make it feel as if it was back in that period. The whole film is quite light, and as much lighting was used as possible in some areas, and in the case of the interview we decided to switch on all of the lights in the room to give the setting much more brightness. Short films usually consist of a lot of soundtrack and lighting varies from film to film. The credits consist of sounds used from the outtakes on top of this.

Multiple settings were used, and the cheapest ones possible were used, hence why a lot of the filming took place outside. As the vast majority of short films are very low budget, like this one, filming outside is not unusual for a short, the only issue is making sure that the weather is perfect for filming, thankfully for us, the day arranged turned out to be as we wanted (except for being very cold!)

Theme-wise, we used the questions, ‘What is reality?’ and ‘What is love?’ Asking ‘What if..?’ and ‘What is..?’ questions is not unusual for a short film, and we portrayed these by changing what was happening on screen multiple times throughout. We followed the idea of ‘What is love?’ from the Shakespeare play ‘Much Ado about Nothing’ which portrayed different stages of love through deception, and at times show it as a play within a play. We have deceived the viewers by changing the plot every two or three minutes, and making it seem as if it was a film within a film, but through a cross between modern day life as well as the Jane Austen set era of the Regency period. Our ancillary texts follow a similar format of trying to confuse the viewer, but not too much.

Effectiveness of ancillary texts when combined with the main product

The ancillary texts assist in making the film seem like it is something it is not, by giving away very little through the posters and not too much detail is expressed through the film reviews. They help to ‘anchor’ each other, joining the film and the ancillary texts together, and therefore restricting how the audience can respond just by looking at the poster or review. Each of the posters goes with the film, highly subtly, and once the film has been viewed, the poster would make sense, it almost seems as if, the poster gives the response, ‘What is this film? I’m so unsure I’d have to go and see it just to see what it is.’ Not too much is given away so that they can work out the whole film without viewing it, but just enough so that by viewing the posters and reviews, it helps to give some sort of idea of what the film is about. The marketing factor also plays a part in this, by making people aware of the film as people will look at posters, and read film reviews, for people to go and see a film, they have to hear about it somewhere, and unless we produce a 5 minute trailer for a 6 minute film, which is pointless, we are restricted to film reviews and posters, but it still does the same job.

The main purpose of a film poster is to promote a film, to help make people aware that it exists while at the same time hoping to attract them enough to go and view it in the cinema. And the only aspects portrayed are positive ones regarding the film, biased? Perhaps, but it’s all in how films make money, by stretching the truth in some areas by using marketing ideas. Film reviews are slightly different, as they are not written by the film company, they will not be 100% positive, and at times can be highly negative, a poor review from a respected critic can completely destroy a film, and an excellent review from one can make a film from a relatively unknown director, featuring unknown actors sell millions, just look at Slumdog Millionaire. Film reviews are completely independent, and they are not biased at all. Film reviews for a film like ours would be placed in specific film magazines like ‘Film Review’, ‘Film Magazine’, and also perhaps in some broadsheets.

There are issues with film posters and reviews, as to where to advertise the film? Posters could be placed in the middle of nowhere, where it is very cheap to advertise, but nobody will view the poster, or in the middle of a major city which is highly expensive, but everybody could view it. Advertising can cost a lot of money, depending on how much advertising is intended.

The quality of all of the posters is very high, and can be blown up and used on a billboard or on the side of a bus shelter if chosen to. The poster attracts the audience correctly, by giving away very little about the film, and in my own poster, all that is given away is that there is a woman, in a regency period, and the film itself is about a film about a woman in a regency period, and perhaps the loose framing helps to show this.

Audience feedback and what was learnt from it

Thankfully, there is a small theatre down at the bottom of my road, which can hold around 100 people, and the whole road and a select few others were invited to a screening of our film. This was done anonymously, they had no idea this was done for an A-Level project or that I had any contribution towards it. The reception was mixed; however, the diversity of people there was highly varied as well. Lisa, 35, gave the opinion that ‘It appeared to be quite Pride and Prejudice-like in places, and had a behind-the-scenes like feel towards it.’ Nick, 37, felt that ‘It was a film about making a film, and the final section just lost me completely, a film about making a film about making a film possibly?’ Finally, David, 56, exclaimed that it was ‘An insight into the troubles surrounding making a film’. All of these people are residents of the road. Out of the 40-something people that were there, more than half said that they enjoyed the film. The residents of this road are mainly white, British and middle-aged, all representations which are shown as strong in the film.

How new media technologies were used during all stages of the production.

Of course, the internet has contributed massively towards completing all stages of this project. The research stages was done mainly through YouTube, where simply searching ‘Short Films’ gives millions of results, and this contributed massively as to what a short film is, and provided a major stepping stone regarding how to structure the film. Even the blog requires modern day technology! Without modern day technology, reading this would be impossible as there would be no internet. Images for the film posters research were also taken from the internet. The storyboard, along with the film posters was produced using Adobe Photoshop, and the posters were developed and finalised using Microsoft Office Word. Finally, the cameras used were upon the very latest in digital camera technology, including direct links from the camera to the computer using USB 2.0 built in to the camera. In addition, we have been introduced to the world of High Definition by using a camera with a built in HD lens to make the quality of the film higher than ever before.

Craig: Review (final)

2010-04-20T15:22:00.001+01:00

Below is a screenshot of the final review, to give some variety, other (feature-length) films which I have watched have also been reviewed, but only as ancillary texts, the main article is shown as the one in the middle, as is with any review.

Martyn - Review of Film

2010-04-19T00:35:00.001+01:00

Here is a screenshot of the finalised edition of my review as it would appear within a magazine, it was a really strange experience as i found trouble talking negatively about my own work, in any case i carried on regardless and this is the result, it also includes an example of a real film review taken from the guardian website, if only for comparison.

Leonie - Overall Evaluation

2010-04-06T18:36:00.007+01:00

Well with the film all wrapped up now, it only leaves the evaluation of the process and the outcome. Comparing it to real media, how effective my poster and review was, what type of feedback I got from the audience I presented it to and how technology aided me in the production are all areas that will be covered.

Real Media

Looking into the narrative structure of a typical short film, it usually has a strange twist such as the abstract storyline of Mathieu Ratthe. That short film played on the archetypal horror movie setting in which you think the older man is going to kill off the younger woman. That soon all gets turned in its head when it is revealed he is helping the poor woman give birth. Short films like to fool us all, shocking up with the pun at the end. Let’s face it, the feature lengths take over an hour to build us up to the climax and it is an art in itself to capture the emotional response in a matter of minutes like the shorts do. Our film runs along the same lines although our short is full of twists, constantly twisting the audience’s perception on what reality really is. It reflects the actuality of the film industry and what the audience recognises to be real. This is different from the usual conventions of short films but that makes it stand out. A complex mix of interview, costume drama and documentary style scenes all add up to the intricacy of ‘Grace’.

Lovefield by Mathieu Rathe

Characters in short films are usually unknown, Hollywood stars sparsely used, though sometimes short films are ladders for the striving actor such as Gerard Butler in Please. The actors we use are unknown people and we develop it around common stereotypes. We have the main actress, Christina Rose, who is a young, arrogant woman, her impending success only getting to her head. When I scripted the character, I knew this was the type of attitude that she needed in order to change personalities and therefore create more of a diverse reality change.
We use limited, cheap settings and make the most out of outdoor locations where we have the freedom to do as we please. This plays on real media, where shorts with low budgets use low class locations where they don’t have to pay too much. We used a social club to save on expenses during the interview scene and a local park for the costume and documentary scenes.

The local park during filming

With short films, you can get away with idiosyncratic camera shots such as the hand held camera movements. Of course, with a growing interest in documentary films like Cloverfield and Paranormal Activity, the media industry for this style is only growing larger. This is great for our film! We use a lot of documentary techniques, whizzing the camera about in hand held fast pans and a solid long take of a period drama, which would (if it were real) be edited into a series of shots. Really, we played on the whole concept of untraditional cinema, avoiding the predictability of a normal, average short film with average camera angles. Many fashion/make over shows use the conspiracy technique around television where they are pretending it is all fluid documentary entries of the progress and we used this. Using noddy shots, we trick the watcher into thinking two cameras are trained on both of the people, not inserted in the editing after it is filmed. The normal drama piece is a normal, unedited-looking piece of footage. The end twist to everything (Post-Production) appears very natural and that is because it is but the whole joke is the audience being fooled into a comforting state of realism. However, as it goes on, the audience would become more weary of what is real and where the filming actually ends as they know a camera is there. Questions spring up such as:
- Who is behind the camera?
- Is there someone ready to film another piece, taking it a step back again?
The reality of what happens behind the camera is never actually shown and that would disorientate watchers.

We don’t use any music which is unusual for any piece of film. However, there was no real need to have any music or sound effects as it is raw documentary. The end credits were dubbed with an out take of the production that plays on realism and background music from the interview piece. Usually, short films like to keep the dialogue as minimal as possible but our piece is full of character interaction, displaying true movie sets.

Costumes were a huge part of our production piece, especially when mimicking a drama reminiscing a period drama such as Pride and Prejudice. We only managed to get high quality costumes because a kindly owner of a costume place offered them for free hire for the day. This saved us a lot on costs. Costumes were a huge part of our production, if that wasn’t obvious from the pictures posted on our filming day. Normally, low budget films don’t even try to recreate a costume drama piece, as it is a risky thing to try and pull off. Short films don’t really feel the need to do a costume drama as it doesn’t really convey messages if they stand by themselves. So, we have developed the ideas of costume, taking it further than most would.

Main male in costume drama

With prissy, spoilt Hollywood actress and the idea of the costume drama plot device of an old man trying to marry a young female, we have played much on stereotypes. Almost every period drama has the issue of unwanted marriage and older men trying to and we play greatly on that representation on typical dramas. However, we changed the two females, both the woman in the Regency part and the Producer in terms of how they would typically be viewed (weak and helpless). Both females are powerful and authorative, which is strange in the Regency period and the modern film industry (which I soon think will change). Also, I have to mention, whilst we are on the subject of representation that it very Shakespearean. I know I have said about this before but to recount, I love Shakespeare and adore how this reflects his works such as ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ and ‘Midsummer’s Night Dream’ where appearance and reality are played upon greatly. Of course, it’s not something the film industry takes on in a different sense. Sure there have been movies such as ‘She’s the Man’ (a modern twist on ‘Twelfth’ Night but nothing shortened and the idea played upon.

The product and the ancillary texts

Right, as anyone would know, film posters are used as a marketing technique for a movie. I have already posted my film poster and mine is very different from the rest of the groups. The decision was made by me because I am doing the general poster and I wanted it to be a mystery. Mine was definitely aiming towards marketing rather than promoting it. The rest of my group decided for the Jane Austen approach, which would obviously target the female audience. Mine, I feel, would border on our target audience of the film buffs. What is very special about our posters is that they are very high resolution and can be blown up to the size of a real film poster if we had the funds.

My poster is so abstract from the film that it stands out, which is always a good thing. I have received high praise from people for my poster, I am delighted to say and proceeded to ask people what they thought of it when they saw it:

Ian, 17, thinks, ‘Crime, Poirot, Agatha Christie, possible film set.’

Sharon, 39, thinks, ‘Perhaps documentary or some plot about the camera?’
In a previous post on March 18th 2010, I explained in a little detail of why I chose to did as the picture and how I got the desired effects through editing. I noted that it was an ambiguious image with just an arm reaching down for a video camera. Also, there was the naked arm of a female that could symbolised sexual themes, which would drawn in the older audience we are aiming for. The main reason I loved this poster was because it could be taken any way possible and would stir up people's imaginations. It anchors the text to the audience of a professional older audience with its simplicity and technical nature. Being mostly black, it doesn't give much away with a background and its sharp, raw editing techniques would only anchor my audience more into my text. The camera itself comes from the documentary, where the fake cameraman is holding it as if he had filmed with it and the arm is mine as I play the part of the leading actress.

I think the review and the poster go as a good duo. They really are polar opposites. The review, I made to portray as a costume drama with a slight hint of more to it than the norm whilst the poster is more confusing and documentary-like. After all, we did really make a documentary piece, not a costume drama. The cleverest twist of the poster is that it doesn’t anchor someone into thinking ‘yes, it’s a documentary’ or ‘yes, it’s a costume drama’; it leaves the audience flexible enough to make their own mind up about it as combining the two has never really been done before. My text would feature in a broadsheet, something appropriate such as 'The Independent' or 'The Guardian' as these are the higher, professional and older audience we are targeting. However, our main texts would be the specialist film magazines such as, "Film Review", "Empire" and "Little White Lies" as the film buffs would love a piece of complex film as ours is. The only problem is the fact the review is done by me, therefore I hold a biased view towards the film as a whole. That could be seen as a good point though! What we look for most, everyone does, is a bit of entertainment and that is what we are aiming for and I think it is what my two texts mediate.
The review is partnered with two other short film reviews that are very recent (updated in the past few months) and is effective in the fact that it gives the reader two other movies to compare it to. ‘Grace’, in the review, isn’t only setting it up as a typical costume drama but a piece of complicated drama that needs to be taken seriously. This works well with the product as a whole as both portray the two sides of the short film.

Feedback

Well, I’ve already talked about how a couple of people reacted to the poster and now it’s time to talk about the short film. Before we split up on half term, we all decided that we would each hold a separate screening at our homes, inviting people round. I decided to take on the older range for my audience, to see just who got what. Our intended audience is more of a specialist one but as we can’t get hold of any film buffs, ordinary people will have to do!

So, I managed to get people together for a screening, even with snacks. As I could not get it onto the TV, I used my copy to play on our main computer and they proceeded to watch it in small groups.

The ages ranged from 39-65 and this gave me a good variety of different feedbacks. I soon learnt from the feedback that the comedy aspect was definitely working! Everyone was laughing as the producer started to go off on one as her partner winds her up about the filming.

Nigel 65 says, “It was good. The couple made me laugh and it had different layers that kept you watching.”

Mark 44 (above) says, “That was pretty good. The Producer and Director were hilarious and it was filmed really well.”

Also, I invited Trina and Dave, who starred at the Producer and Director along to see what they thought of the production as a whole:
Trina 42 says, “The editing is really great! It flows really well and can’t believe it’s us there on the screen. Everyone was laughing at our bit and I’m really pleased about it as people don’t realise how hard improvisation is.”
Dave 39 says, “I like how you edited the colour for the costume drama and then went to black and white for the rest of it. It was good how it went from the production stages as well, showing it is a documentary. You don’t realise how funny you look when you see yourself on screen but everyone was laughing as well so it couldn’t have been that bad.”
Dave also was a media student and so he has the knowledge of the film industry and how things work. Even on the day of filming he was pointing out certain things and I thought it was a good experience to interview him so see what he thought of the film as a whole.

I’m afraid I couldn’t get any feedback from different classes as I come from a working class background! I would have liked to but I know it was not possible. This was a family event as I couldn’t really drag a few strangers off the street and take them in my house! The good thing about my family is that they are very critical of things, especially when it comes to films! So they are generally honest about how things look and can even look from a cinematic knowledge as one of my relatives took a Media course in college (though many years ago!).

Technology and how it helped us

I can safely say that technology today helped us a great deal whilst planning, researching, constructing and evaluation. The internet was probably the biggest help out of all of them in all aspects of our production. We looked up short films to start with and I analysed ‘Please’ (it is one of the first entries of mine in the blog) on YouTube, as well as many other videos. When I was looking for costumes, I used the net to explore where I could get period drama costumes. It also came in handy when I had to research in-depth the Regency period to make my script as realistic as possible.
The blog, as a new media, was a big learning experience as well as – in my opinion – the best way to record everything. As it poses as an online diary of events, I think it captures the whole thing perfectly. From this, we can see how done what when, what needed to be done and our progress in a very real timeframe. Placing the evaluation on the blog as well was a huge relief, as we could put our entire work on one place, one a secure internet page so the public could see it if they wished.
Photoshop 5 was a blessing when it came to making our posters. We used a digital USB camera - Fuji Finepix s5100 - (very high standard) for our photo shoot and then uploaded them onto Photoshop to edit them (such as blacking out the background and fiddling around with the contrast).
For all the editing aspects we used Magix Movie Edit pro 11, which was very simple to use whilst we used trial and error as well as getting a tutorial session. Also, the other groups offered advice, as one member is very experienced with editing programmes.
Also, I cannot forget Celtx, which I used to format all my script. This is a free script writing programme and all my scripts look professional quality as they were written straight into it. It has many aspects that only helped aid me, even giving me areas to store all my character and location information! Other basic programmes like Microsoft Publisher helped me design my A3 spreadsheet for my reviews.
As for filming, our group had a very high spec HD camera. This managed to get our video in an extremely high quality, which only made it look even better! The media industry is going head first into the HD industry so this gives our short film a heads up. They were USB-ready so no messing around with cables and leads; we just plugged them in and uploaded it to edit.

2010-03-28T19:03:00.001+01:00

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.

2010-03-28T17:35:00.002+01:00

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

2010-03-26T20:43:00.000Z

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!

2010-03-24T16:46:00.001Z

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!

2010-03-23T17:20:00.001Z

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.

2010-03-23T16:41:00.002Z

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

2010-03-23T15:54:00.000Z

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)

2010-03-21T20:37:00.000Z

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)

2010-03-19T21:30:00.001Z

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!

2010-03-19T20:06:00.000Z

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

2010-03-18T19:33:00.001Z

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

2010-03-16T20:29:00.001Z

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!

2010-03-16T17:07:00.001Z

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

2010-03-15T20:30:00.001Z

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!

2010-03-13T12:11:00.000Z

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

2010-03-12T16:56:00.001Z

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.

2010-03-11T19:54:00.000Z

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.

2010-03-11T19:42:00.003Z

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

2010-03-11T18:16:00.002Z

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

2010-03-09T21:55:00.004Z

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

2010-03-04T21:05:00.001Z

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

2010-03-03T19:05:00.001Z

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

2010-03-02T19:17:00.001Z

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!

2010-02-11T17:53:00.002Z

Please note password has been reset - you will be able to blog again after half-term. Have a nice holiday, you have deserved it! Mr Mapp

Leonie - Final Production

2010-02-04T21:22:00.002Z

Today we filmed the final piece. The actor who would be playing the teacher had been ill for a couple of days so we had to delay slightly. However, our actors were costumed and ready today. My script was detailed in the correct areas I feel it was a good piece to work with editing. It outlined any areas our film was lacking in as well. Hopefully, once the editing process begins once more, it will look more of a professional piece so I cannot wait!

Above are the final scripts.

Leonie - Scripting the final part

2010-02-01T19:22:00.001Z

We managed to quickly get hold of someone to act as our teacher in the next part of our production and have now finalised the last part of the script. We are twisting it once more in a different direction to add in all the little parts we missed (as it was a documentary). So, script finished and I will give it to the actors tomorrow to look at and our group can set a date that our mock teacher can work with! Wish us good luck!

Craig: Rough Cut and extensions

2010-01-26T18:58:00.001Z

Today, we produced a rough cut of our product, and despite this being five minutes long, we came to a unanimous decision that we were missing something, perhaps we need to take it out even further and play around further. We very quickly threw around some random ideas and eventually coming to the conclusion that we dramatise the editing process, which will allow us to throw in what shots and editing techniques we don’t have. We will have to film this relatively soon so we can give Becky time to edit. Leonie will start scripting this thoroughly, I'll check it, and then Martyn will be able to storyboard this once every detail has been applied. We have already begun considering cast and costume and what shots to be used where and so forth, hopefully all will go well.

Leonie - Script to Film

2010-01-20T19:01:00.000Z

I am happy the way the short film is turning out whilst watching the editing process. It's really turning out to what I imagined the the script. The actors kept to the prompts I gave them, and used them remarkably. The beginning looks even better than what I imagined, the period drama piece. The overall idea for the period drama part was perfect and the costumes and scenery looks amazing. As for the improvisation, my idea was definitely brought across with the prompts but I also thinks it captures the beauty of what sponateous improvisation is.
Also, we are pondering on the idea of holding a film fesitival with the other groups in which everyone who wants to can attend. This would be a dream! Our film has a complex audience and I feel holding this fesitival will really test if we really captured the complexity and if people understand what is going on. So far, people we have shown really thought that the improvisation was real behind-the-scenes footage, so that is really superb!
Cannot wait to see how everything goes!

Uploaded footage and Pictures

2010-01-06T17:33:00.002Z

With our footage uploaded, Craig, Martyn and I sat down and watched all our footage together, Becky being absent from Sixth Form together. I was rather impressed by it! I was a bit apprehensive about it after worrying that it wouldn't look good on the big screen but edited together with the titles and music will make it perfect! Our editing will not take long and I cannot wait for the final piece, eager I know! The rapport between the actors was brilliant and we did a great job considering the weather and the amount of practise we had. Editing will commence during our given time, and I am certain Becky will do a fantastic job!

Below are a few of the pictures taken from the filming location as I forwarded them to Martyn would will be constructing a digital storyboard from them:

I've added a third poll of mine up onto the blog, so check it out and vote!

2010-01-05T14:20:00.002Z

Becky: Uploaded and ready for editing.

Today, Craig (director) and I uploaded the raw footage onto the computer. As soon as it finished uploading we went through each take, we were both pleased with the footage.

We were surprised and pleased with how well the camera picked up noise, especially the conversations throughout our film.

After the raw footage has been edited, I am confident that the end product will be spectacular.

Craig: It's done!

2009-12-29T13:53:00.002Z

We did it! Yesterday, in the freezing cold, after finding a suitable area to film, and waiting for Martyn to get by the traffic, we all arrived at our location, filming went smoothly, apart from a few hiccups in the costume drama bit. The temperature was below freezing and there was a slight mist about, but it didn’t matter, everyone who was acting were brilliant, from the second we started filming to the time we stopped, we had spent just under an hour filming. Editing should not be a problem, there are very few shots to merge together and only music and credits will have to be added, we can do this once we get into the editing booth once we return to school in the new year.

2009-12-28T17:54:00.002Z

Becky: We did it!

Today we filmed our short film, it went great. Even though it was freezing cold, no one gave up; we all stayed focussed and got the job done.

I am so pleased and thankful that all the actors/actresses turned up and did a superb job, their acting was brilliant and I believe that after the editing is completed we will have a decent and interesting short film.

I can not wait to see the finished product.

Leonie - After Filming

2009-12-28T12:39:00.004Z

Well today was the big day and I must say I was awfully proud and excited about how it went today. Despite having little practice, we managed to get the costume drama in three shots and the improvisation in one. It was 0.5 degrees below and we had a brilliant location with no modern day litter bins or park benches. The only problem was the sound, which we got sorted and the passersby never bothered us. The acting was to the best of our ability and we had to improvise on my costume to make a shawl to keep me warm. It took us only an hour or so to find the exact location, rehearse and film it in its entirety. Craig filmed whilst Martyn and Becky also took place in the production.
Tomorrow I am taking the costumes back but it’s so sad to see it all over! I cannot say how proud I am that we managed to get this sorted out so quick and efficiently. Pictures will be up soon!

Craig: "Oh no, we're filming tomorrow!"

2009-12-27T21:34:00.000Z

Well… Tomorrow is the big day, our shot at filming this, we have everything prepared and I have been keeping a close eye on the weather forecasts, and, it seems great! No rain, no snow, no ice, little wind… Just plain, British weather, cloud ‘n’ cold! We have absolutely everything prepared, and have decided where and when to meet… We hope for no failures and the actors to be sublime. The whole group will be there tomorrow, and we will have a great time filming, if it doesn’t go wrong of course…

Martyn: Props

2009-12-20T12:07:00.003Z

Due to some technical error with my computer this was the soonest this post could have been posted as this was the first chance I could have gotten the file to one of my group members to post on my behalf, Craig was kind enough to do it for me and I thank him for it.

For this project we have been considering the use of props, mostly being in the costume department, however I have been looking into some props which could be used in the costume drama section of the film, we have all decided to keep it to a minimal, so as to keep it in line with the script the whole group shall be looking for some period looking books and with a remarkable amount of luck the perfect book was found by Leonie in the first shop she looked in, these are images of the book.

Craig: We are ready!

2009-12-19T16:26:00.002Z

After being harshly ill for the past week, I have missed out on the final details of what we are going to do. We now have all of the equipment, have tested it to check whether it works and it does, we have come to conclusions regarding actors, props and settings which are vital for the filming stage of the production process, and we are now putting the flesh onto the bone of what we have prepared for! Our plan A is highly stable and our backup plan will work well also. Leonie has ordered the costumes which sorts out the costumes and Martyn is taking charge of the props. Becky has also been preparing to edit immediately as soon as we return to school in the spring term in the New Year. One unexpected aspect which may occur could be snow, which we have been getting considerable amounts of over the past couple of days, and could remain here for a couple of weeks, this could benefit us when it comes to the improvisation sections of the film. I feel we are now ahead of schedule by a couple of days now and even if our preferred date for filming does not go ahead, our backup date will still be before we plan to start editing. The group is working incredibly well, and we know that we will all be there for the filming session(s) as we can rely on one another, the group ethics have been excellent so far and will continue to be as we head straight for the filming after Christmas.

Leonie - Ordering the Costumes

2009-12-19T16:23:00.002Z

Just got back from ordering the costumes! Travelling to the other side of town has been slightly dangerous as the icy roads and accidents due to the snow has put a standstill to everywhere. The weather wasn't that bad today so I decided to make my way to Incognito (the Fancy Dress shop).

Upon our arrival, as I took our other costumed Actor, we found the costumes swiftly. A few of the items we needed were going to be hired out but we have ordered them for the 28th. We managed to get: the purple dress, the waistcoat, overcoat, ruffled shirt, trousers and boots ordered to be picked up on the Wednesday 23rd. As it is an A Level project, the owner of the place gave us a brilliant deal of renting the costumes for free! I was overwhelmed and so thankful that we managed to get it all free as it is a low budget film.

I have contacted our two improvising characters (Director and Producer) and given them the areas they need to cover during the improvisation so hopefully with a bit of practise they will be fine with it. The learning of the lines for the costume drama is going really well but very hard as it will be all in one take! So wish us all the luck in pulling this off just after Christmas!

Leonie - Lights, Camera, Action!

2009-12-15T21:19:00.001Z

Today we were given the cameras, which was very exciting! We have in total two cameras and two tripods, which are all up and ready to go. The final discussions have taken place and we have decided that the following characters are:
Grace - Leonie Sturman
Lord Thayne - Stephen Harrington
Producer -Trina Abbott
Director - David Green

We have also decided on the final filming dates! We will be filming first on December 28th 2009. As there will be improvisation and there may be many takes, as well as our actors may have other arrangements during the day and the weather may be unpredictable we have decided to set a back up date of the 2nd of January 2010. The costumes will need to be ordered as soon as possible and I am hoping to get down there ASAP! They will be pre-ordered and we can collect them on the day.
The time has almost come!

Leonie - Script and other decisions

2009-12-13T20:04:00.001Z

Everything has changed! It is rather exciting but daunting at the same time. As scriptwriter, it isn’t right to script an improvisation…it is unheard of! So, we have decided to only keep the scripted part for the costume drama as it will add to the effect of it. However, as we are narrowing it down to the other two characters just arguing and no one else coming in, we are giving that bit the improvisation. I have thought of different pointers to give the two characters during their improvisation. As I need this conversation to take certain topics on board but still be improvisation, I shall provide these characters with areas that are vital to be discussed. This will require a lot of practice, but not too much so it loses the feel of improvisation, on both of their parts.

This means our character list has decreased dramatically and I will give an update soon on exactly who is playing who! I have a rough outline but first I need to confirm it with everyone. I met with two potential actors yesterday for the part and as they are a marriage couple, I think they would be good candidates for taking up the improvisation roles.

On Friday, as our ideas changed, so did our potential storyboard. Below is an image of the storyboard in rough and less shots than we are planning. Our film is being recorded as a documentary so the camera shots will be purely spontaneous with the improvisation. Ours is so small because of that reason and the fact that the costume drama is being shot in one unedited piece to give it a raw look. We acted the scenes out in rough along with potential camera angles and where the camera will be at times. This really helped us get a grip on what was going to happen.

This week a lot of decisions will have to be made but I have all the confidence in my group in making the right decisions. There have been a lot of changes but I feel now we have a risk and I hope it all goes to plan! (Below complete script)

2009-12-11T18:06:00.003Z

Becky: Group Meeting.

Fortunately I was well enough to attend sixthform today; my group were very kind and updated me on everything I had missed; I really appreciated this.

Today in our group meeting we decided that our current short film idea could be improved as it was rather predictable and similar to some existing short films. We want to make our short film unique by taking our existing idea take to the next level.

We decided that in our original idea too much was happening at once and too many people would be on set at certain times. So firstly we reduced the amount of people, so the concentrations of the viewers are drawn to the main characters and the dialogue.

As a group we acted out the ideas we had already had with the existing script. We realised that a major problem may occure if every conversation is scripted as it may sound rehearsed and not believable. However some coversations must be scripted otherwise they will not work; this will be done by Leonie, also she will find interesting topics for the actors to discuss about in the unscripted sections. We want it to feel as realistic as possible. This resulted into a possible idea that certain conversations in our film could be improvised to give that realistic feel that we aim to create. There will be topics for the actors to stick too, but instead of a script being memorised word by word, they can use these topics and work with their partner to make it into a realistic conversation. The only problem with this is that naturally people can become blank and can not think of what to say next, to overcome this, there will be a run-through of their conversations, so they roughly know what the other is going to say.

When we acted the conversations again, we improvised certain parts instead of reading from the script which noticeably portrayed more emotion and it felt more realistic and believable.

By using improvisation we believe that our short film will differ from others and will become a unique and distinctive short film.

Leonie - Group Meeting

2009-12-09T18:00:00.001Z

Today we had another group meeting! We were all eager to get our ideas together and revise what we had and what we didn’t have. Taking this opportunity to sort out the odds and ends of the production, as we want to film during the Christmas Period, we soon got our ideas together. Sadly, Becky was off ill and has been a few days so we proceeded to hold the meeting and tell her what we came up with after.

As groups, we were given a large planning sheet to help us separate the areas we need to look at. First of all we decided on the final Actors and Characters, as we couldn’t decide on the main woman ‘Grace’ and what was happening with the Directors. As it stands now, we filled in most of our Actors and Actresses:
Lord Thayne – Stephen Harrington
Grace – Leonie (Me)
Director One – Dave Green
Producer – Trina Abbott
Director Two – Jamie Clarke
Cameraman One – Ian Amos
Director Three – Darrill Lawrence
Makeup artist One – Sara Rudge
Makeup artist Two – Rebecca Stringer
Cameraman Two – Luke Keeble
Intern – Craig Woollard

In theory, we have all our cast members but we will need extras to fill in for ‘behind the scenes’. Grace has been filled in by me because of my past drama skills and it was easier for the group especially in learning the script. We have put the location as Chantry Park as it is across town but we will aim to shoot during the day as to lessen any disruptions, which would probably occur later on!

(Planning sheets above)

Next we have to finalise the date, as we will need to film all in one go, which will certainly be a challenge! The script is nearing completion and I will be writing more tonight so we are up to speed. It has been delayed because of a mix up on characters and changes made to the plotline. Other than that, everything is up to date and I am generally pleased with the group. We are all pleased at how much we have gotten sorted already, and all eager to film!

Leonie - Costume Hunting Part Two

2009-12-03T19:47:00.003Z

Just got back from Incognito the local Fancy Dress shop and I managed to get the main actor to come so the sizes can be as accurate as possible. There was a large range of costumes available however as it is very near to the Christmas period, there are a lot of fancy dress parties going on. So there were many costumes that the place had that on hire and were ready to go out. Luckily, we managed to get hold of a few items that people had pre-ordered ready for pick up!

This is the product of our main character with the first outfit we found minus the jeans as there were no suitable trousers. The jacket is perfect as is the waistcoat, although we may look at another jacket nearer the time as the manager said there were more coming in soon. We also spotted the riding boots, perfect for the character shown below. The shirt was more Tudor but we found another one, shown below.

The shirt and boots were exactly what we were looking for. Next of course came the dresses for the young lady. I am the correct size of the actress we are hoping to have (albeit she couldn't make it for tonight) so I had the task of trying them on and seeing if it suited the period we are looking into.

The first dress was purple and plain, exactly what we are looking for. I don't know if I like this one as much as the one in the other costume shop, but when the group see's the pictures tomorrow we will swiftly decide.I tried on one other that would be seen in the Victorian times but the dress was slightly too large and too Victorian and not suitable for our character (shown below).

So, to conclude, I think we have the male sorted out apart from the trousers, which we will need to get as soon as possible. With the female's dress, we have a couple of good options. The prices will probably range from about £5-£30 but we will not know for definite until we know for sure on what we want to hire on the day. However, I think that the costume hunting went rather good tonight and I hope that we will decide on something soon. As I have said before, we will have to go back nearer the time so we can hire and see what else they have.

Side note: Producer/Director scene on script is coming together but my mind is more focused on lengthening the beginning scene. I will update on my progress again soon! Also, I will need to look into hairstyles soon, as they are parts of the costume as well...

2009-11-29T10:26:00.002Z

Becky: Research into Special Effects.

Special effects are traditionally divided into two categories, optical effects and mechanical effects. With the increasing amount of digital film-making, it is easier to recognize the distinct difference between special effects and visual effects. Visual effects refer to the actual digital post production (raw footage) where as special effects refer to the mechanical effect and change to the film e.g. combining each individual shots together to make a scene which flows and works in sync together.

Since the 1990s, computer generated imagery (CGI) had evolved and improved special effects technologies. CGI gives film-makers greater control and allows many effects to be accomplished more safely and convincingly.

The most common use of CGI has been to create photographically realistic images of fantasy creations. Images could be created in a computer using the techniques of animated cartoons or model animation which results in films such as ‘Toy Story’ and ‘Chicken run’.

In 1993, computer input devices were used to create the realistic dinosaurs in the famous film directed by Steven Spielberg's, Jurassic Park.

Special effects (SFX) are used to enhance normal visual effects. Also they are often ‘invisible’; the audiences are unaware that what they are seeing is a special effect. This makes what they are watching e.g. film, feel more realistic, these effects are often used in historical movies, as most commonly the architecture and other surroundings of the chosen era is no longer around this present day. As well as this, special effects are commonly used in space programs/films as the surroundings and situations in them can not be created successfully and realistically in a natural way.

(www.cinemateca.org/movies/special_effects.htm)

Here are some special effects that are used today:

• Zoom in/out,

• Animation,

• Pace change,

• Inserting specific objects such as animals into the background,

• Create locations,

• Cuts, fading and dissolving,

• Sound adjustments,

• Change in Backgrounds,

• 3D Image Fonts,

• 3D effects e.g. shooting star,

• Overdubbing sounds and picture-in-picture effects,

• Gamma functions (change curves and brightness of objects),

• Create soundtracks and sounds,

• Add additional sounds and songs.

The version I will be using (Magix Movie Edit Pro 11) includes the majority of these special effects. I will be using these special effects to transform the raw data into complex footage.

Leonie - Music/Soundtracks

2009-11-29T08:20:00.000Z

Back again to give the details of what songs I have found over this week! I decided the best place to find music was YouTube, so I scoured the website for mostly soundtracks from movies set in the Regency period. As I have already looked a Pride and Prejudice, I had a head start with looking at the soundtrack and I stand by my liking of the ‘Liz on Top of the World’ soundtrack. However, I also think that the song ‘Your hands are Cold’ in the movie is highly suitable for the first bit as I have drafted out the first bit of the script, I reckon it could fit in with the opening.

Next I took a look at Becoming Jane, a movie recently released based on Jane Austen. There were a couple that stood out here.

I feel that the beginning of the second one could be used if the second draft of the Costume Drama part could be seen as lighthearted, which is very possible. The argument they have at the start could be seen as slightly funny but if put into the real context of being a realistic costume drama, I think the music would have to be serious.

Even though Atonement is set in the 1930's, the soundtrack could possibly suit the Costume Drama also. I looked into few of the videos of the soundtrack and found one that stood out for the tone I wanted to set for the first opening scene.

These are the few videos I narrowed the selection down to. I tried to track down other movie soundtracks, preferably a modern take but nothing seemed to fit the style of our script at all. I did think of trying to get hold of possible music for the other scenes but for what we are thinking of doing, it would not suit to have an underlying soundtrack. There is a lot of dialogue in the other scenes and music would only distract. However, if we do feel we need some sort of music for the background, albeit something that is soft, then we will try and find something.
If we do, then the soundtracks will need no voices supporting it, soley orchestral, just like the opening Drama.

I must admit, I enjoyed listening to the different soundtracks and placing them to the script piece I have drafted. This next week I am hopefully getting access to a Costume Shop I know of, that I know have a wide range of costumes. We will see!

2009-11-25T20:29:00.003Z

Becky: Editing Software research.

To get a better understanding of what can be achieved by using editing software’s such as Magix Movie Edit Pro 11, I will research about some of the affective techniques that are available in this version. Also I have been allowed access to the Magix information website, where people are able to upload photos, videos and music. People with existing profiles, are aloud to comment on media that has been posted, they offer help and advice as well as their opinion.

To transform raw data into complex footage, I will be using Magix Movie Edit Pro version 11 as it has amazing cuts, special effects, 3D transitions, exciting animated menus and has good overdubbing quality. I specifically prefer this version to others as it is relatively simple and has different stages for different abilities e.g. beginners can practice on the story maker wizard and build up their skills from there.

Here are some features of this version:

· MAGIX Smart design for easy and intuitive use,

· DVD menus with realistic 3D image fonts and new animations,

· Innovative DVD menu,

· Transition effects,

· Flawless video mix effects with Alpha Channel keying,

· Clean-Up Wizard removes unnecessary files,

· Upload free photo and video files onto the Internet,

· Overdubbing sounds and picture-in-picture effects for impressive videos,

· Virtual original soundtrack normalization for impressive sound; adds powerful sound even from the quietest camera recordings,

· Add DVD menus with 3D image fonts, backgrounds and new animations,

· 3D effects - flying hearts, etc.

www.graphic-design.com/DTG/Reviews/movie_edit.html

By going on the Magix website (www.magix.info/uk/media/overview) I was able to watch existing short films such as ‘The House’ which is a good example of how special effects and good interlocking techniques can produce a short film that flows smoothly. As well as this there are many posts by more experienced editing members who offer advice and help to others. This website allows members to ask questions to others about editing and similar subjects. Also similar to YouTube, their work can be posted and viewed by other members, this allows them to gain other peoples opinions and advice as they can leave comments.

Craig: Locations

2009-11-22T16:56:00.001Z

I was assigned to look into potential locations for our film. The location is going to be incredibly important, especially for the costume drama part of the film, there will have to be nothing that will give away the fact it is filmed as if it is part of the 21st century, so no noise from cars or anything is going to be vital. In addition to this, we are going to want an area which could be mistaken for Regency period, and on top of that, a lack of people, otherwise the whole thing will look silly.

As soon as we developed the idea of a film within a film and the main body was going to be a Regency period costume drama, one popular location around our town immediately sprung to mind, Christchurch Mansion. It has the Regency-style location and everything, the problems with it however will be other people and the vehicles, especially as it is very close to the town centre. As I do not have my own picture of this building myself I took this one off of http://www.eastsuffolklinewalks.co.uk/images/christchurch_mansion.png
Our next potential location is outside a house in Chantry Park, it resembles very much exactly what a period drama will have in the garden and the actual building itself, as the pictures below show, and the one issue will be we may have to get permission to film there, it is a very good location, perhaps better than Christchurch Mansion, but this will have to be discussed in future group meetings.

After searching around the whole of the local area, I did not search too far, as it seems as if we will have a huge cast, it will be difficult to get everyone in one place, and will have to be an appropriate day on top of this. I discovered the final potential location near the Chantry Park one, and confusingly enough it is in Chantry Park itself, literally not far away from the second location, but don’t get the two confused, they have very different qualities.

This location is just outside of the huge garden in the second location, and it is simply a pathway, a really old-style (possibly regency) bench, and a tree, and that’s it, possibly the most simplistic location possible, and as that park is in the middle of nowhere, there shouldn’t be any other people there (hopefully). The pictures below are some I took one morning recently, as well as the other Chantry Park ones. This location out of the three is my personal favourite, but this is to be discussed within the group in the near future.

Leonie - Costume Hunting

2009-11-22T11:19:00.001Z

Yesterday, we finally got onto the exciting part of picking out and trying to find costumes! I must admit, I wasn’t sure if we would get anything but we ended up finding a few items and even buying a couple of things.

The first picture is of a possible dress that a family member thought would be of use. However, I feel it is not the right look for the costume drama, perhaps a bit too fancy and Victorian or modern like. Our actress is also my size and the dress was too long and big.

The second dress below is from a fancy dress hire in our local town at the Salvation Army. It resembles a fancy frock from the Regency period, which is what we are aiming for as our main female is of a high class background. This dress I feel is a true contender for our character.

The image below is of the jacket we purchased whilst on our trip and I must say was a bargain for what it was! It is a tailored coat with the correct length. The gold buttons have a crest upon them, just like family crests around that time. Wide shoulders made by the shoulder pads are also brilliant to have, and ended up being the correct size for our actor playing the leading man.

Overall, I am going to look into getting or making ruffles and getting a white shirt for our Lord in the Costume Drama. Also, what will be very hard is getting knee high boots for our actor to wear. We still have a costume shop to visit, hopefully with our actor and actress in hand so the sizes are perfect. This, we will visit as a group, so it will be more of a group decision. Then we can move onto Crew and Directors. The Directors and Producer will be costumed by us but so far no ideas on the Crew Members. However, I am very happy that we found some items on our trip! It doesn’t feel that far away we will be filming now.

Craig: 'Shopping'

2009-11-21T19:20:00.005Z

Despite Becky being ill still and Martyn having other commitments, myself and Leonie went up to our town’s shopping centre to start some searching for our shopping for our production, this will be on a budget, so we are trying to keep costs down as much as possible, despite this, we went on a search for props and costumes.

We already had a shopping list of what we need for the project, so we started searching for anything on that list. We need a jacket for the lead male, which will have to suit our actor perfectly and be able to show what period exactly the drama is in. We also need a very old book, leather cover and everything, which is one of the major props for the Regency part of the film. We spent most of the morning looking for the perfect dress for the lead female, and there were so many different ‘interesting’ items we were close to giving up before finding something different, something that could have been around back in that period. Myself and Leonie also came to the conclusion the budget will come out of our own funds, a quarter each, which is fair. Detail will be gone into on Leonie’s section on costume and Martyn’s section on props. We did not buy anything yet as the other two members were not with us, as it is a group effort and everybody should and will have their say, however we found a couple items of intrest, which will be discussed at the next group meeting

Leonie - Group Meeting

2009-11-20T18:20:00.002Z

Okay, well we all had a busy week this week, so we finally sat down for a group meeting today. Becky was off ill so she has been filled in to what is happening and what we have decided. There are still areas we need to figure out and find such as: settings, costumes, Props, Sound and Special Effects. As Craig has brilliant ideas on possible locations, we appointed him of that area, Martyn wanted to look at props and find props we might need, Becky as she is the Editor will be doing Special Effects and I will cover Costumes and Sound as I’ve already looked into those areas a bit.

(Group Meeting and Notes)

So, we have been planning for a couple of weeks to go into town and find any possible costumes. Becky and Martyn will not be going because of personal issues and other duties so Craig as the Director and I looking into costumes will be going up tomorrow to look into getting or hiring some.
Finally we have made a rough outline of who will be playing who so we know what costumes sizes we need:
Lord Thayne: Dave Green

Grace: Tara Rudge

Producer: Trina Abbott
Director One: Darrill Lawrence
Director Two: Jamie Clarke
Director Three: Stephen Harrington
Cameraman One: Ian Amos
Makeup Artists: Sara Woollard (more still pending)
Backstage Crew: (Still pending)

For Costumes we will probably need:
Ruffled shirt
Waistcoat
Long Overcoat
Knee-high boots
Tight fitting trousers
Dress
Shawl
Ankle Boots

For Props we will probably need:
Cane (for the male)
Cameras

Sound Microphone

Book

Makeup

Chairs

Vehicles

Also, I have written up a rough first draft of the costume drama part of the script that is the hardest part to script. I feel that it is very effective and sounds like it belongs in that period, so I am happy that has turned out well! A problem I have encountered when writing the script is that the Producer and Director One are arguing whilst the two actors talk about something different. So for that scene, two scripts will have to be made. Other than that, the script and our group are doing great! Cannot wait to get started!

Martyn - Storyboard sketch

2009-11-15T17:28:00.000Z

Today I decided that we may need a brief outline of how our film may turn out so I sketched a few story boards in order for the rest of the group to see where I thought it may go and what they thought and how they would change it, just to get a better perspective on the entire project and to iron out any doubts we may have now before it is too late.

What I am going to do is walk through each scene on here and to give a little outline to how I think it could go…

Scene One is the costume drama portion of the production (I have outlined why it was chosen in my last post), it basically shows a scene between a couple walking through a field with a horse, possibly just about to go riding or possibly coming back from riding we haven’t decided yet, and talking about a subject which shall be elaborated in the script, just as the speech is about to reach the end there shall be a call for “cut!”, that is when it goes to Scene Two..

Where the image switches to that of another camera, one filming the current filming process, this is where the costume drama actors break out of their respective characters and begin to use their regional accents, while the director is giving them instructions on how they can do better on the next take, he then moves to the cameraman in Scene Three…

Where he starts arguing about the inadequacy of his filming or how he’s not catching the light correctly or just generally complaining, whatever it shall be we finally decide on it will essentially be a problem with the filming the director is arguing about, which then opens the way for another call for “cut!” which leads to Scene Four…

Which will show behind the second camera another camera filming the whole situation which leads to scene Five…

Which shows another director coming from behind that camera moving towards the first group to congratulate them and to show them directions of ho to do it better the next time then there is Scene Six…

Which shows the image on the camera screen of another camera and there is a final call for “cut!” just before the ending credits….

Martyn - Audience pleasures and expectations of a Costume Drama

2009-11-15T16:40:00.000Z

Audiences get many different pleasures from different genres of film, such as in an action sequence and audience would mostly take pleasure from the linear structure of script and the visual effects, for a costume drama and audience would be looking towards historical accuracy for their viewing pleasure, such as correct language, accents and locations as well as the feeling of fluidity and naturalistic movement of the camera.

An audience for a costume drama would look for specifics in their viewing, for example, an actor who is portrayed as a rich, middle classed business owner, should not have thick regional accents and dialects and should be dressed in period dress, i.e. top hats, tailored coats and suits not workman’s clothes.

For our film we are really dead-set on using the Costume drama as one of the main scenes within the production and we wanted to give the project as a whole a different feeling to it so we came up with the idea of there being a film, within a film, within a film, now the costume drama section would be the first layer, and there would be two other layers both involving some form of crew interaction from behind the camera.

Leonie - Pride and Prejudice

2009-11-14T13:16:00.000Z

Right, after the group meeting I have been thinking more about the period drama, as that will be the beginning. I might have hold of a dress already for the female main character (if we do decide on having one, which I think we will) but the group will decide when I get it. I just watched Pride and Prejudice, listening to the music and really checking out all the aspects of a period drama.

With their costumes I found that the women wore plain dresses that were either white (especially at balls or parties) or Earth colours such as browns and greys. They wore hats in the summer, carried dainty pouches or purses with shawls over their shoulders if the weather desired it. Women, especially young women, liked to collect and make ribbons of all colours, wearing them most of the time interwoven in simple hairstyles. Both sexes wore boots, men over their trousers and women under their dresses. Men dressed in entirely dark colours, the only light colours being their ruffled white shirts under their waistcoat. If they were outside, or even indoors they tended to wear overcoats, the longer ones during the winter. Sideburns and longish hair seemed to be appropriate on guys so that could possibly be made with a wig if our guy has short hair.

The houses were stately, surrounded by fields, something that would be hard to find in Ipswich so I think we would settle for fields or forests as they were a common theme and place for the characters to be in Pride and Prejudice. A lot of farmyard animals were all over the place such as pigs, horses, sheep etc. There were many festivities like balls and parties for women and men alike to attend and socialise or find their partner or patriotic events such as watching the soldiers march through town.

Music was all string or piano for background music, reflecting the nature of the scene in which it is placed. However, I’ve already posted a video of the best song on the soundtrack in my post before and talked about it, so I won’t go into that.

Now, language is the main area I am concerned about. Watching Pride and Prejudice, I quickly discovered that even though a man and woman are married, the mother of the girls still called her husband by Mr Bennett. All females tended to call the men by their surnames (Mr Darcy) but men were allowed to call females by their title and first name (Miss Elizabeth). They spoke formally with everyone, a little more informally with their siblings but respected their parental figures also.

I feel after watching this, I am more than ready to write the costume drama part, but first we will need to sort out what will exactly be happening and what we want to get out of it. So, we need to find a range of locations, possible props, costumes, music and any special effects before I can really get cracking on with things! I know I’ve said this before but…now I really can’t wait to get things on the roll so we can plan the script and I can start writing!

2009-11-12T20:25:00.003Z

Becky: Research into previous and existing short films Directors, Actors and Editors.

I used the internet to collect information about the significance of short films to people’s careers; often triumphant short films can launch a successful career in the filming industry. Here are some people who have either made a career out of making short films, or started off their career by doing this, which lead them on to create films for the mainstream film industry.

George Lucas

George Walton Lucas, Jr. (born 14 May, 1944) is an American film producer, screenwriter and director.

He went to the University of Southern California (1966), where he created his first short film ‘Speacocke’ also known as ‘A Man In His Car’.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-cvJq3m7pw (link to his first short film).

In 1967-68 he won first prize at the National Student Film Festival with the short film ‘Electronic Labyrinth’. Shortly after, he was awarded a scholarship by the Warner Brothers to observe the making of ‘Finian`s Rainbow’ which was directed by Francis Ford Coppola. This gave him experience and knowledge that benefit him in his journey to success.

In 1999 he produced the short film ‘George Lucas In Love’ which was an independent short film. It was passed around Hollywood Offices as a filmmakers ‘calling card’. This got him noticed in the filming industry as it showed potential; it was only a hint of what he was able to do.

He is best known for being the creator of the impressive and well known sci-fi film ‘Star Wars’ and the joint creator of the adventures character, Indiana Jones.

(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Lucas)

Francis Ford Coppola

Francis Ford Coppola (born in 7 April, 1939) is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is a graduate from Hofstra University where he studied theatre.

He started his professional career by writing screen plays as well as making low-budget films both short and mainstream films, with Roger Cornman; an American Producer and director of low budget movies. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Coppola)

Steven Allan Spielberg.

Steven Spielberg (born in 18 December 1946) is an American film director, screen writer and film producer.

Spielberg was interested at filming since a young age; at the age of 14 he won an award for a 40-minute war movie (short film) he called ‘Escape to Nowhere’.

(www.entertainment.howstuffworks.com/14-films-directed-by-steven-spielberg)

In 1968 he was an intern and guest of the Universal Studios; this is where he made his first short film ‘Amblin’ which lasts 24 minuets. Shorty after he became the youngest director ever to be signed for a long-term deal with a major Hollywood studio (universal); this was the beginning of his career as a professional director.

(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Spielberg)

He is well known for his touching films addressing issues such as the holocaust, Slavery, war and terrorism. As well as this he directed successful films such as Jurassic Park, E.T. and Jaws.

Laura Dern

Laura Dern was born on 10 February 1967 into a successful moviemaking family; her father, Bruce Dern is an Academy Award is nominated American film actor who often plays the villainous and unstable characters in many films such as the ‘Silent Running’. Her mother is Dianne Ladd who is an American Actress, film director and producer.

After her successful role in ‘Adrian Lyne’s Foxes’ (1980) along side Jodie Foster, she stared in several short films such as ‘Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains (1982) and the ‘Teachers (1984).

(www.imdb.com/name/nm0000368/bio)

In 1994 Laura Dern was the director in the short special (short film) ‘The Gift’ which was 30 minuets long.

David Lynch

David Keith Lynch (born 20 January, 1946) is an American filmmaker and visual artist. Lynch has received three Academy Award nominations for Best Director, for The Elephant Man (1980), Blue Velvet (1986) and Mulholland Drive (2001).

In 1966 he attended the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (PAFA) and created a series of complex mosaics in geometric shapes which he called ‘Industrial Symphonies’. As well as this he had began working in film and created some short films. His first short film was ‘Six Men Getting Sick’ (1966) which lasted 60 seconds (1 minuet).

In 1968 he combined animation and live action to produce the 4 minuet short film called ‘The Alphabet’ which related to the expression of childhood and aging.

In 1970 Lynch drifted way from fine arts and turned his attention to film. Soon after he produced a 30 minuet short film ‘The Grandmother’ which displayed many elements that later on became his trademarks including unsettling sound and surrealistic imagery and a focus on unconscious desires instead of traditional narrative; this made him stand out in the filming industry as his ideas were different and unique.

(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Lynch#Early_career_and_short_films)

David Cronenberg

David Paul Cronenberg (born 15 Mach 1943) is a Canadian filmmaker, screen writer and occasional actor. He graduated from the University of Toronto with a degree in Literature after switching from the science department. He uses an unusual style of filmmaking which explores people’s fears of bodily transformation and infection; this is commonly known as Body horror. Shivers (1975) and Rabid (1977) are two of many of his unique type of films.

In 1966 Cronenberg written, shot, edited and directed the 7 minuets short film ‘Transfer’. A year later (1967) he directed another short film ‘From the Drain’ whilst he was in film school.

(www.imdb.com/name/nm0000343/bio)

Christopher Nolan.

Christopher Nolan (Born in London on the 30^th July in 1970) is a director, writer and editor. He was educated at Haileybury College and later studied English literature at University College London while filming several short films in the college film society such as ‘Tarantula’ (1989) and ‘Larceny’ which was shown during Cambridge Film Festival in 1996. A year later he written and produced another short film called ‘Doodlebug’ starring Jeremy Theobald.

He is best known for producing and written the famous mainstream films ‘The Dark Knight’ (2008), ‘Batman Begins’ (2005) and ‘Insomnia’ (2002). (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Nolan_Short_films).

Craig: Group Meeting (12/11/09)

2009-11-12T17:11:00.003Z

Today we had an important group meeting, to evaluate how we have done so far, what we can do to improve how we are working, and the next step, which is to fully develop this idea. We firstly were blunt and pointed out where some of us were slipping up, with one person not being harsh enough towards the group in not getting them to hand in work as soon as possible, and this is what drags two people down as they post blogs later than the other two, slowing up the whole research process. With that being the only exception, the whole group is working incredibly well, and we are all determined to help one another in getting the research done as soon as possible. After further research on the time period we are on about, we came to the conclusion we are not looking at the Victorian era, but we are looking at the Regency period, which is just before then. We are going to look around costume shops in our area as well as down the local theatre to see whether we will be able to borrow costumes from there, and will look around at props and settings as well, once we have seen locations etc. we will take pictures and post them. We have also come to the conclusion we will post things quicker, and increase our general pace of everything, so we can have more time to finalise things before we film, as it will be the detailed things that have to be perfect, especially in the first layer of the film, as that will have to be fully represented as a costume drama before we confuse the audience completely. We will be looking deeply into settings, costumes, props, sound, special effects and actors over the next couple of weeks.

Martyn - Audience research

2009-11-11T19:25:00.000Z

In order to make this project is a reality I, as well as the rest of the group, need to understand what an audience wants in order to give them what they are looking for and then to give them totally unexpected....so basically when you come down to brass tacks we want to give them a feeling of "what the hell is going on?" but not to leave the audience too confused...
When considering the different audiences and a way to link certain ideas between the two in a way that would look natural, I should look into the needs of a few genres and who watches them.

Audiences for a Drama Documentary are stereotypically the older generations, mostly middle aged womenand mostly white, because these seem to be the generations most likely to watch this type of film as it appears to be a softer and calmer type of film, whereas a younger generation would go for something much more unexpected.

A Drama is on the same substance as a Drama Documentary only the main difference is that a drama documentary is partially staged whereas a drama is all completely staged, dramas tend to get a larger audience as it tends to have some sort of story-like feel to it. Documentaries probably have the potential to have the largest audience of all as they can literally be about ANYTHING,some may prefer a more nitty-gritty documentary and others may want something less over the top, a documentary can tailor to any veiwer type.

Craig: Inspirational Past Products and Initial Idea

2009-11-10T18:51:00.001Z

After multiple discussions within the group, an initial idea propped up after we were all blown away by one video, called Spin by Double Edge Films. This took us all away with the idea of what is real and what is not?

We eventually based our first major idea on that thought, and we will now build around that idea on that theory and hope to achieve similar results in a really good product. This idea is very basic and may change considerably by the time we get out and go crazy with the camera. The film constantly tricks the viewer as it doesn’t ever give a clear indication throughout on whether anything at all is real. Now we have an initial idea we can develop this further and then finalise things before we film, which will be relatively soon at the rate everything is developing.

Leonie - Target audience

2009-11-10T17:02:00.000Z

Today we got together and started to go through areas that are vital to our production. Finally we decided our audience really were people such as film buffs and film festival attendees. This is a very select audience as our film is going to be a different type of subject. As we are combining documentary with costume drama, this would appeal more to people who just like watching short films and have an open mind to what is happening. With teenagers, they would not like the costume drama and middle aged adults would not like the twist of blurring the lines of reality as they would want to see all of the costume drama. So, our audience has to be a specialist audience of film buffs who want to be taken aback and respect the special genres it lies in.

Our narrative is going to be complex as our target audience likes it. As our film idea is deceiving the audience, it needs to be very tight and the narrative structure needs to be perfect. In one of my previous posts I talked about the narrative structures of short films and know I will need to follow those guidelines when writing the script. These film critics would have seen many different films and because our idea is different, we need to make it as complex as possible without losing the theme.

So far, we thought about Christchurch Mansion being a possible location but my main argument about it is that because it is a popular spot and near the entrance of a park, it won’t be easy or remote enough to film. There could be issues such as children messing around or even people walking past in modern day clothing. We decided to look into places such as fields, untouched by modern day buildings and the like as we want an external location. Also, we would want to look into perhaps getting hold of a horse, as they are very common in period dramas and would certain add to the element of verisimilitude.

Costumes, as we are starting with a period drama theme, will have to be perfectly placed in the era we are looking at. Already I have posted about costumes and how they would look for males and females so I won’t go into too much detail here. They will follow the codes of a traditional costume drama and everything, including props will have to be researched to see if they were available in that time to add to the realistic approach.

What will have to be interesting are the camera shots and movements. The first part (costume drama) will be quite slow and boring, but Becky has looked into the camera techniques used in period dramas so that will be handy. That means the second part will be exciting, with exiting camera techniques used to make it really look like a documentary but I guess we will have to research and think more about that too. For the period drama scene I think we are looking into doing one long shot of the piece to make it look more realistic for the documentary or making it look really like a piece of drama they are watching. Edit pace links in with camera shots and this edit pace will be realistic in the sense it will mimic the pace of a documentary.

Music is a key factor in any movie as it sets the tone perfectly. In horrors it is dark and heart racing at the gory scenes or orchestral and still rather dark. I made a horror movie’s opening two minutes so I know how important music is to create tension. However, this year it is completely different, beginning with a costume drama. Immediately what comes to mind is cheesy period music, so that would include instruments with no singing. To get an idea of what sort of music is played I looked into the soundtrack of Pride and Prejudice 2005 and found a fantastic score. The song ‘Liz on Top of the World’ by Jean-Yves Thibaudet is really quite beautiful and something like that would be perfect for a period drama, also the other songs on the soundtrack are perfect for what we are looking for. Putting something in that reflects the music used in that time will add also to the verisimilitude of the whole thing.

Above is the video is Liz on Top of the World - Pride and Prejudice Soundtrack
The title and the posters supporting the film attracts the viewers so both of them are important. As it does start with the drama, we would want to support the claim it is a singular piece of period drama so the title would reflect that. So we would be looking into following the course of Victorian Authors using names such as ‘Oliver Twist’, ‘Emma’ and ‘Jane Eyre’. The posters we have already come up with a few ideas. My idea is having a woman dressed in period clothing surrounded by cameras and Martyn has the thoughts of an eye through a camera lens and the lens reflecting a woman dressed in the period costume.

So, these are great ideas to start with and I’m sure they will progress into something really large and wonderful. As our theme is complex, it is really starting to get intense, trying to get our mind around things and getting clear ideas of what we want but I’m sure we will get there!

Martyn - Research : Locations

2009-11-09T20:44:00.000Z

I have been asked by the rest of the group with finding possible sets for our production in the local area, preferably not too far away because of transport issues, in which case i have found only two possible places so far which truly fit the bill in the way we imagine it, one of which is directly in Ipswich itself, the Christchurch Mansion, which is a large Elizabethan house turned museum with outer grounds that are just perfect as it is within reach for all members of the team and has the right feel to the area, the other location is a little further out in terms of distance, it is located in the town of Colchester, in a park, the Castle park area itself, by what i've seen it is on the same quality of Christchurch but my only concern is that it is not a guarantee that we can keep the general public from ruining our filming process, i hope that the general public will just see the cameras and chose to move around us when filming.

It is actually more difficult to locate a period accurate Elizabethan house in these modern times, even in a town still soaked with elizabethan design, and even so i am still dubious about ones i do find because we may find that it the locations found there may be little tell-tale signs of modern day technology not intended to be involved at the moment of film, such as security camers or lamposts, but i don't really think it would be a problem if these changes are found as they will be so insignificant anyway...i don't really know what will happen with it...i guess i'm just nit-picking...

Leonie - Screenwriting software

2009-11-09T19:52:00.001Z

Well, I had a go at making my own script and I must admit, it was fairly easy to navigate myself around. Usually it takes me ages to get to one place on a new programme but Celtx even has its own Wikipedia page to help!

The above is a screenshot of my practice script, where I have a directory of characters for that scene as well as extras that aid me in making details, adding in props and scene directions. With my practice script I even got in some pre-prepared camera shots.

The most important factor I found were the character sheets where their name came up as well as all the descriptions including height, weight, interests, dislikes etc. This would really help in making the character into a real person, and I am already looking forward to creating our characters! In my Master Catalogue I have a host of characters, props and locations ready to be used and easy to access. The script is easy to read when put in a print preview and really looks professional. I have already made a title page, which when compared to a real screenplay looks exactly the same.

I am very pleased and this software will help me a lot when it comes to writing the real thing, which isn’t long off at all!

Craig: Lessons learnt from AS project - Thriller

2009-11-08T20:13:00.002Z

Last year could have gone considerably smoother, and Becky will agree, as we were eventually stuck in the same group. Initially, there was a lot of moving around as I was dragged in from another group and two members of the group I worked with decided to simply drop the subject, leaving us with only three people and four jobs to do. We eventually came to the conclusion directing duties were to be shared, and I ended up with the job of editor. Time management from our group was really good last year, and it proved pivotal to achieving what we did, as we had to do the filming process more than once (explained later). We planned everything with meetings, held within lessons and free periods, or as and when it suited us best, these went really well as we all came up with some brilliant ideas which were then translated into our product. Our personnel situation was quite a disaster last year as so many people were moved around due to people dropping the subject as it didn’t suit them. One member of the group also only did things as and when they wanted to, and this held us back quite a bit. Props were a luxury as we had a minimal budget, we basically used what we could get our hands on, and the only thing bought specifically for the project was a magazine. Costume usage was poor last time round, this year we need extensive planning and a wider use of costumes if we are going to give the effect and symbols needed for a costume drama. Likewise with costumes, locations were poor, not as bad as costumes, but we need a wider range of locations this time round and need to be more appropriate, we also have to take geographical factors into account when selecting where and when to film. The cameras we used didn’t like us last year and the older cameras we used basically gave up on us every time, we eventually used the brand new cameras and these worked first time round, the only issue we had with them was it picked up a lot of wind effects and sound. We filmed the entire thing a grand total of three times, on three very different cameras!

Craig: Research into actors within period dramas

2009-11-08T19:55:00.002Z

I am going to look into common traits that actors and actresses that appear in period dramas or costume dramas share. Firstly I will look into actors that has appeared in one film or TV show that has appeared in other films or shows in another or a similar period, and see whether those who star in one of these dramas appears in many. The ones I have chosen are The Tudors, The Virgin Queen and Emma (2009 adaptation). All of these were popular at their time of release.

The Tudors

Jonathan Rhys Meyers – Alexander (Film), The Lion in Winter (TV)
Sam Neill – Merlin (Film), Merlin’s Apprentice (TV), Dean Spanley (Film)
Natalie Dormer – Casanova (Film)

The Virgin Queen

Anne-Marie Duff – The History of Mr. Polly (TV), The Magdalene Sisters (Film)

Emma (2009 adaptation)

Romola Garai – King Lear (TV), Nicholas Nickleby (Film)
Jonny Lee Miller – After Miss Julie (Play), Byron (TV)
Michael Gambon – Amazing Grace (Film), Plunkett & Macleane (Film)

The above shows how main actors and actresses from TV or film in that subject do multiple shows or films, despite some of them being quite young and have a fairly short acting career so far, whereas other actors are considerably older and have been in many different things over their long career. From this, most of the actors and actresses shown have been in at least one film or film specific for television.

On further investigations, male actors within these dramas are usually quite young or old, giving either a wise-type character in the drama, or the butch strongman, the key dominant character is male in most cases i.e. The Tudors, female actresses are made to be shown as usually quite weak and feable, however, occasionally a strong female character will come into the mix and sometimes is the key character into the drama. Getting the right actor or actress to fit common archetypes is pivotal if they are to get everything into place.

Leonie - Narrative Structures

2009-11-08T19:34:00.001Z

Okay back again for more of my preparation work for my role!

For my job, I really need to understand the very basics like narrative structures, plots, narratology and a few other things. As I’ve said before, I write in my spare time and can see similarities to short stories and films. To begin with, they both have a beginning, middle and end as well as a crisis. Something has to happen in order for the audience to be interested and it needs to almost be immediately addressed. Short films have simple narrative structures compared to feature length films. As we are looking at making our film five minutes or less, we will need to get to the crisis as soon as possible after developing it quickly before ending it with a climax. If the short film were any longer, the narrative structure soon becomes more complex. In feature length films there is often a long while to set up the problem and a midpoint is set to keep the film strong and advance the story more.

In a short film the audience needs to immediately know the characters, locations, the time in which it is set and where the film is heading. However, our production will differ slightly because we are confusing the audience by blurring the lines of realism. The audience needs to get these main points straight away, unlike if you are writing a story and can take up a lot of time setting up everything to the characters to what is going to happen. I think the most important thing about this is that I remember that I need to get all this out in the open and not spend lots of time setting everything up, getting directly to the point. I will need to set up the crisis as soon as possible so I have enough time to draw it out and offer a conclusion.

Every word will count during this process, especially right at the very start as I will have to reveal what I want to reveal, without giving too much away about everything.

The audience’s attention will be drawn in as soon as the crisis or incident starts to occur and will need to be held. Once everything starts to happen, the story can truly move forward and some sort of plan in constructed to deal with this problem. During this process, there will be obstacles to get over that stand in the way of the climax

The main crisis comes along after the action gets moving and the obstacles are overtaken or getting there. This may be a slight problem in ours as ours will be a continuous revealing of a new realism. In short films, the end and resolution usually come quite quickly, depending on the size of the film. However, our film may not have a direct resolution apart from the realisation that everything they see may not be real.
Vladimir Propp is a good example of someone who analysed narrative structures in folk tales in the 1920’s in Russia. He came up with the theory that any narrative had to have:
• False hero
• Hero
• Dispatcher who tells the hero to go somewhere
• Princess who is the main goal for the Hero
• Helper who helps the Hero on his journey
• Donor who provides the Hero with some kind of help
• Villain who is the main conflict to the Hero.

This links in with what Linda.J.Cowgill says in her book Writing Short Films that the narrative goes like:
• The Hero
• Who wants something
• Takes action to get what he wants
• Hero meets with some kind of conflict
• The conflict leads to a climax
• Climax then leads to resolution for the problem

Propp uncovered a sequence in which he thought applied for every single fairytale written. However, there are critics who have seen flaws in his ideas with tone, mood, writing style and many more. In total there are thirty one functions:
• A community/kingdom/family is an ordered state of being.
• A member of one of the three areas leaves to solve this
• A warning is given or rules are applied to the Hero
• The warning or rule is broken
• Villain finds out something about the Hero who has broken the rules
• Villain deceives victim to gain advantage
• Victim unwittingly helps the victim
• A state of disorder occurs
• The Villain harms a member of one of the three groups at the start
• One of the three groups wants something
• The Hero is sent to get what is wanted
• The Hero plans some action against the Villain
• The Hero leaves home
• The Hero is tested and passes the test and is given a gift or helper
• The Hero reacts to the helper (donor)
• The Hero arrives at place where he can fulfil his quest
• There is a conflict between Hero and Villain
• The Hero is branded
• The Villain is overcome
• The state of disorder is settled
• The Hero returns
• The Hero is perused
• The Hero escapes or is rescued
• The Hero returns home only to not be recognised
• A False Hero claims the reward
• A task is set for the Hero
• The task is completed
• The Hero is recognised
• The False Hero or Villain is uncovered
• The False is punished
• The Hero attains the rewards (either the Princess or the Kingdom)

Looking at his thirty one points, I can see many flaws. It may apply to Russian fairytales but modern and some English fairytales don’t really follow this at all. In fact, there aren’t many False Hero’s in English fairytales. It also focuses on males as being the Heroes, a very old view on things as many fairytales can have female leads. However, it is a valid narrative structure for folk tales, and probably those of Russia. It is a prime example that narrative structures do exist and can be common.

(Vladimir Propp)

Archetypes are extremely important in any piece of literature. As we have done in lessons (which I found quite interesting) we have looked into archetypes in women’s magazines, seeing how the mother and the victim were portrayed. Northrop Frye thought that all archetypes can fall into one of four different types of mythos (narratives): Spring Comedy, Summer Romance, Autumn Tragedy or Winter Irony and Satire.

Comedy narratives would follow:
• Present society remains
• Disapproval of society without revolution
• The society is replaced with a happy society full of people
• This new happy society of people resists the change
• A new contemplative and peaceful view is now seen
• Society ceases to exist beyond contemplation

Romance narratives would follow:
• Complete innocence
• Youthful innocence of inexperience
• Completion of an idyllic
• The happy society present resists any changes
• A new contemplative and peaceful view is now seen
• Society ceases to exist beyond contemplation

Tragedy narratives would follow:
• Complete innocence
• Youthful innocence of inexperience
• Completion of an idyllic
• Individual’s faults
• Natural Law
• World of shock and horror

Irony and Satire narratives would follow:
• Present society remains
• The society is under criticism as no changes are occurring
• The society is changed into one of happiness
• Individual’s faults
• Natural Law
• World of shock and horror

(Northrop Frye narratives are off http://edweb.tusd.k12.az.us/dherring/ap/consider/frye/indexfryeov.htm)

The reason comedy comes under Spring, is because Spring is a time of rebirth and when things new start and that is symbolised as the Hero appears. Summer is the height of the year when good things happen, the reason why romance is put under that season as romance usually is born or there is some union between characters. Autumn is tragedy and it is portrayed by the death of plant life as they get ready for winter, so a main character or the protagonist may decease. Satire is placed with Winter as it is seen as a rather dark kind of narrative and Winter is when darkness falls very easily. This sort of narrative symbolises darkness coming into power and death.
Frye thinks there are five different worlds and they are: human, animal, vegetation, mineral and water. Each area symbolises a season and whether it causes tragedy or comedy.
However, I think that different archetypes can combine where a tragedy and a romance can come together or a comedy and a satire. His theories are only outlining them as separate genres but unlike other theorists he knows that some actions can be unconscious so they cannot be studied in terms of archetypes.
It is rather difficult to understand but I think the main thing to really understand are the seasons and how they symbolise each genre.

(Northrop Frye)

Narratology is when you study narrative structures and how they change our views. As everyone knows, a narrative is how a story is told. In short stories, most of the actual story is missed out, just like in most books as people want action. Take I Am Legend the novel by Richard Matheson, it starts in the middle because people don’t want to read about every single detail about how the disease came to pass as there are small flashbacks to summarise it. The book starts in the middle and describes his life a year before the end and how it affects him. In short films it is very common to have a narrator to fill in the general gist of everything quickly.

I think it’s obvious that our group will be looking into verisimilitude as we are playing about with what is real and what isn’t. When a film is very realistic then it is full of verisimilitude, or appears to at least be realistic and this can be show using school uniforms for a school based drama. Also most films use the press to make it appear more realistic and plays on amplification of deviance as people know when an outbreak hits such as Swine Flu then it is highly covered by the news so showing a newspaper that has headlines of an outbreak or event will make the film more realistic.

With short films the plot needs to be very tight and to the point. With feature length films there is a long time to develop the plot but short films need to be organised very well. The plot really needs to hit three vital areas to be proven successful: the arrangement of events leading to the climax and resolution, events in the storyline are related and therefore continue the action plus it develops the story and thirdly there needs to be enough conflicting points in the film to capture and hold the audience’s attention.

The plot is simply a series of actions that lead to each other and finally to the end by building up the three points I just talked about. It’s rather easy but most people get plot confused with a story. A story wants to entertain or inform you, not need to the grand event at the end.

What I find quite amazing is when I write, plot lines just appear and link together almost magically, and that can be very handy. I think the plot we have on our short film outlines our lines straight away, as we know what will shock and confuse. Is the narrative is character based then the conflict will come from them but if it isn’t the conflict will stem from that. So, our plot is closely packed and tight already as we have began to think more about it. As soon as the plot is sorted out, the script can be written to a good standard.

Just like a novel or short story, narrative is everything and it will be designed meticulously until perfected, and this applies to scripting short films too.
- Firstly, an idea needs to be made, something strong that will support a short film. A short film portrays events or issues that feature films do not cover. This general idea will support the entire plot.
- The second thing you need to decide when designing the narrative is who you want to aim this to. There is no point scripting a piece of World War One drama to a teenager who loves comedy. So the target audience is everything to the genre you select and can be tricky at times. Take our idea for example, a period drama that appears a documentary but is in fact both and blurs the lines of verisimilitude. We thought that we would aim it at middle aged people to begin with but when we really sat down together and thought about it we wanted to aim this at older teenagers early twenties (people in University) as it strives off the shock factor. If it were aimed at middle aged people we would only work on the period drama.
- Thirdly, the script needs to have a clear outline so we can fill in the needed gaps and see if anything else needs to be included or if there are any problems.
- Fourthly, characters need to be designed closely so that they resemble true human beings as no one is going to feel for a character that is exactly like a blank canvas. They need to know of their goals, have a background and have unique traits.
- Lastly, there needs to be some kind of dramatic event that takes place that sets off the drama and leads to the resolution. A story without drama will attract no one and this should include the characters for us to feel some emotion for them.

Side note - We have been getting together as a group and discussing different elements of the production, mostly the storyline and what we want to happen. It's still a bit blurry to what we really want, especially as timing will be everything. Also, the script programme is working well as I have been playing about with learning where things are and how certain things affect the other. The programme Celtx, is fairly easy to use and I will start to practise writing my own scripts soon! Watch this space.

2009-11-06T17:38:00.003Z

Becky: Research into Camera techniques and representation in period dramas.

During our group meeting, we all decided to do additional research about specific topics; mine was to collect research about common camera techniques (shots and movement) and representation of the characters in period’s dramas such as The Tudors. I did this by gathering primary information, by watching the first episode of each of these three period dramas:

The Tudors,
Pride and Prejudice,
Emma.

The Tudors

The Tudor’s opening was upbeat and fast paced, which was the affect of a successful combination of tracking and panning. It gave me the impression that I was witnessing a hunt between two rivals; two groups of men. As well as this, to highlight how fast they were moving to their target, there were many close ups of their lower limbs including feet whilst they were walking. In the first three minuets of this episode, a wide range of shots were used, the most common ones that were used were long and medium shots as well as close ups.

Through out the program, I realised that the majority of the camera shots, showing the characters were medium shots (torso upwards) and long shots. They may have decided to use medium shots, to draws the viewer’s attention to the conservation and facial reactions of the characters, also it prevents them from getting distracted from the activities happing around the main situation. They used long shots to show the location to the viewers also to magnify how grand the buildings were. Eye line matching were often used to allow the viewers to see what the character they are following is seeing; this potentially can make the viewers feel more involved and connected to the situation in the program.

To show authority as well as vulnerability and power, a vast amount of dominant and submissive shots were used. Dominant shots enhance the character’s power, by making them look more grand and important. On the other hand, submissive shots create the opposite affect; it makes the character look vulnerable and weak. Often, the male characters in The Tudors had higher authority and control over the women; they were considered more significant and powerful than the Female characters.

I noticed that the characters facial expressions and reactions were enhanced, often by zooming in; by zooming in the viewers attention is drawn to the emotion on their face, also it highlight the importance of reactions and may give a clue to the connection between each group of people e.g. a negative reaction or expression may show hatred towards the person they are looking at, which may suggest they are enemies.

Pride and Prejudice.

The first two minuets of this period drama differs from ‘The Tudors’ as the pace is slower and more relaxed, also the camera angle is slightly tilted upwards to give a dominant affect, this gave the impression that this lady (which is the main attraction on the opening scene) is very important and powerful. However this dominant shot may be enhancing her positive emotion instead.

Through out this episode I noticed that a variety of camera shots were used such as over the shoulder shot and medium shot. The most common one that was used was the medium shot, especially when conversations were taking place. The over the shoulder shot often influences the viewers to feel like someone else is following that specific character, or can potentially make them feel that they are looking over the character’s shoulder themselves.

During this episode, a lot of zooming techniques were used to draw the viewer’s attention to a certain object or activity, similar to ‘The Tudors’. As well as this, frequently slow panning was used; this differs to The Tudors as the majority of their panning was fast, as their entire piece had a faster pace.

Emma

This period drama opening differed to the other two, as it opened with a gathering of people celebrating and dancing. However through out all of the chosen period dramas, there were many gatherings in grand buildings, this highlighted how wealthy the main characters were; also it enhanced their authority and importance.

Similar to both previous dramas, medium shots and zooming techniques were often used for important affects such as drawing the viewers to an important object or situation.

I realised that through out this episode that the pace varied which differs from The Tudors, as The Tudors pace was mainly fast and upbeat.

The majority of the male characters in this drama had a great amount of power and authority; this was enhanced by dominant shots and posture.

In each period drama that I decided to base my research on, there were many similarities in the representation and activities that were in them. In each one, the male characters were dominant and had the most control and power, where as the female characters were often vulnerable and didn’t have the equal amount of importance as the male characters, this may be because each era these dramas were based on, were before women’s rights and equality between both genders were acknowledged. I also noticed that there was a clear difference between wealthy and poor people by the distinctive difference in their clothing and accommodation. However the main character’s age didn’t vary as there were only two groups, young adults and the elderly.

Leonie - Research into Costume and Language

2009-11-05T18:28:00.000Z

Well, after looking at costumes and the kind of clothes actors and actresses wear in period dramas I came across a disappointingly narrow selection. Just like in modern time when you see the upper class people dressed in different clothes to the jeans and t-shirts of average people, you had that back in the 1800’s. However, I think the lines are more blurred now than they were back then.

Affluence was a main factor in fashion. Darker colours such as greys, olive greens and black were worn by most men who had money. Their clothes consisted of: a double breasted frock coat, narrow trousers, white shirt with stiff standing up collar, large bow tie, gloves, cane, hair oiled back with sideburns, colourful waistcoat and ankle boots.

Women with money wore: dresses in nice colours such as lilacs, blue and reds, a tight fitting jacket with two lower flaps edged with lace, petticoat, shawl, caps, parasols and dainty low heeled shoes. Also they wore cages under their dresses to give their dresses a more uplifted look about them.

Servants wore very general types of clothes, women wearing black a white cap and apron over a plain long black dress. The men or boys wore a waistcoat and trousers with a plain white shirt.

This is only a small look into the costumes as when we know who and what we need for the production, we will look further into the subject and what it consists of. This, I think will suffice for the moment whilst we work out what we want included in this film!

These are a couple of pictures of the famous Pride and Prejudice, set in the time we are looking at possibly doing if we feel it is capable to pull off.

Language used I feel in modern films such as Pride and Prejudice mix modern with 19th century. Language reflects how society has changed and over the past two hundred years, many laws about women have changed. This goes into my English course as I am studying language change, which is very handy as it links in perfectly. Over the past hundred years laws like against beating your wife and equal rights has come into play. However back then, women had to be married off as soon as they were of age. Reading and studying books such as Jane Eyre and watching programmes such as Emma and films like Pride and Prejudice, it is obvious that women and men refer to each other through their last name and status’ such as ‘Miss, Mrs or Mr’. It is also a very upper class language, with idioms not used in modern day language found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_19th_century_English_language_idioms.

My research uncovered a borrowing of Latin and French words such as:

• Opprobrium meaning a disgrace, which is Latin
• Propensities meaning Latin for confident
• Tabernacle Hebrew for a dwelling place for divine presence
Also there are many archaisms in the language:
• Alas – sorrow
• Festoons – string or garland
• Ere – before

I will have to be careful as many word have broadened, been clipped or changed their meaning over time like:
• Borne – born
• Arrested – broadened to an authoritative meaning
• Missis – Misses
Therefore whilst writing the script I will have to think about the different language changes and society changes.

Side note: Also downloaded a new programme called Celtx to practise my scriptwriting on, and it will hopefully aid me in getting my perfect script and teach me ways to get it really up to scratch! I will Blog about it at a later date, see how I am getting on!

Leonie - Group Meeting

2009-11-03T16:04:00.000Z

Today we decided that we needed a group meeting to see where our project was heading and to collaborate our ideas. First of all we discussed what form we wanted our video to take the abstract idea of confusing the audience with a twist on having a documentary and a drama. We want to have the two of those forms separate, perhaps taking the idea of a film inside a film. We would have a drama, which is really a documentary, which could possibly be a drama. This idea could be an everlasting idea to when the audience does not know what is real and what is not.
Next we looked into themes we personally found interesting. Martyn and I both liked it where the films twist people’s views and mind, whilst Craig liked films that emotion was a large theme involved and Becky enjoyed themes were characters had to find solutions to problems.
Our group started to bounce ideas off each other to where it could lead and came to the possibility of making the first part into a costume drama, inspired by Shakespeare where his favourite idea was a play inside a play. Of course Shakespeare and Costume Drama isn’t much of an area sought after by children or teenagers so our target audience would be middle aged adults.

Of course, because we are thinking of the prospect of working with a Costume Drama and some of the group aren’t that informed of the subject, we need to research the subject. So we decided on these jobs for each of us:

I will research into costumes in films and TV programmes such as Pride and Prejudice, Emma and any other films set in the 1800’s. Also I will look at the language used as I do have the job of the scriptwriter.
Craig is going to look into actors that star in era dramas, seeing if there are any common traits they have.
Martyn will research into places in our surrounding area that could be used for a Costume Drama.
Camera movements and representation in period dramas will be looked into my Becky.

Last of all, we wanted to discuss any issues that were coming up in the group and to see if anyone had any problems they wanted to talk to us about. However, everyone agreed we worked well as a group and there were no problems in our Blogs as we all found it easy to complete the work given. We are all also set out in our jobs and comfortable, so that is a major plus for our group working skills!

Here is our group discussing different ideas. The bottom left is Craig, top left Martyn, bottom right Becky and top right Leonie (me).

Martyn - Research

2009-10-31T21:42:00.003Z

In this project, as such with any media based project, each member involved must be assigned a role to perform, in front and behind the camera, after discussing this at length our group has decided upon these roles; Leonie, as the strongest writer among us, shall take upon the role of scriptwriter as we all agreed that with her knowledge of descriptive and emotive language will greatly enhance the quality of our script, i myself shall use my artistic skills as the groups storyboarder, which shall be easier on the group as they wont have to worry about artistic effect as i have all the creativity and knowledge needed to fill the role from doing A level art, however craig and becky were undecided about which role they should take when i had last spoken to them as for now i understand it that Craig is going to be the director and Becky is going to be in charge of editing, now for this decision i think it is a good one as i feel craig has the leadership skills needed to control the group and becky has a certain air about her which shows to me that she is capable of editing to a high standard.

I have been preparing myself for my role as storyboarder i have been looking into general art and animation forms to do with storyboarding in hollywood films and looking up the basic roles of a storyboarder. From what i have researched i have found that a storyboard is a type of graphic organizer used to pre-visualize either a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence, usually in the form of illustrations or images displayed in a sequence, and was first used as we know it today by Walt Disney Studios during the early 1930's.

The role of the Storyboader
A storyboarder, or storyboard artist as they are sometimes refered to, is responsible for the graphic or visual representation of the script to a film or animation, thereby preventing the time wasted by filming scenes which aren't needed in the final production and reducing filming requirements from the entire production.

A storyboaders work is as follows;
Receiving a copy of the original script
Breaking down the scrpit into individual categories, such as characters, props and backgrounds
Drawing out initial sketches of the scenes provided by the script
Allow time for edits to be made with the script and initial storyboards
Enhancing through use of different artist techniques
Presenting final storyboards to the director

( http://www.jobprofiles.org/artfilm4.htm, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storyboard )

I am looking forward to this project as it will give me the chance to look into different techniques outside traditional art.

2009-10-30T19:03:00.011Z

Becky: Job decision and Research into Editing.

With every group project, each member must be assigned to a role/job to make sure each section is completed and not repeated. After discussing which member of the group would be best suited to a certain job; we come to the conclusion, that Leonie will be the Script Writer as her writing skills are astonishing, Martyn is assigned to the job/role of the Story Boarder as he does A level art which enables him to draw almost anything to a high standard, also he is very created and comes up with interesting ideas. As well as myself, Craig wanted to try something new and expand his skills, as Craig has great leadership skills and determination to get something completed before the deadline, he has taken the role of the Directed, which leaves me with the job of the Editor. I am happy with this decision. last year I was the script writer, I did enjoy doing it but I wanted to try something new this year, the role of the editor is ideal as it would expand and improve my computer skills; also I am very determined to complete the last section of this project; editing the shots to create the finial product, to the best of my ability and to a high standard.

To prepare myself for my part in this group (being the editor) I am going to collect information about what certain things an editor does and has to accomplish. As well as this, previously Leonie and I volunteered to interview Gentlemen at their 70^th reunion, it was very successful and we were able to collected many touching stories from them. I will use and improve my editing and computer skills by editing the footage we collected. Before this I am going to practice the skills that are required as well as talking to existing A level Editors to receive advice and to gain a better understanding of what I need to look out for, to assure that the overall result will be to a high standard.

An Editor’s responsibilities and roles.

The editor is responsible for assembling the footage in the correct order to create the final result/product. This is made out of short shots, dialogues, sound effects, graphics and special affects, ultimately creating a finished motion picture. It is vital that the final product flows, and that each shot is links together to disguise that they are separate pieces. To assure that the result meets the targets, the Editor and the Director have to work closely together to make sure it fits the brief and the requirements.

The process of work for an editor involves:

Receiving a brief, as well as an outline of footage and/or a shot list, script, or screenplay,
Assembling all raw footage, with camera shots either recorded or transferred onto video tape in preparation for inputting into the computer,
Add in uncut rushes and sound, and synchronising and storing them into files on the computer,
Digitally cutting the files to determine the sequence of the film and determining what is usable or not,
Creating a 'rough cut' of the programme/film and determining the exact cutting for the next and final stages;
Re-ordering and adjusting the content to ensure the logical sequencing and smooth running of the film/video.

(www.prospects.ac.uk/p/types_of_job/film_video_editor_job_description.jsp)

Editing software’s and programs.

There are specifically designed software’s and programs such as Motion clip, iMovie and ‘AVS Video Editor’, which are created to allow film editing to take place.

They allow forage to be uploaded via USB from a Camera, Mobile etc; also they provide a wide range of add ons including special effects e.g. fading, colour adjustment, which are used to improve the overall product as well allowing each shot to merge in together as one piece affectively. I will need to try out and practice on a variety of programs to find out which one is most suitable for what we are doing, and which one gives us as wider range of effects and techniques that can be used. When I decide which software is the best to use, I will practice on it frequently to improve my editing skills and to discover what works and doesn’t in certain situations.

I am looking forward to be the editor in our group as it is a new challenge and experience which I am sure I will enjoy. I am also excited to be working with the members in this group, as I believe we will create an outstanding short film.

Craig: Research

2009-10-27T20:10:00.003Z

After a lot of discussion within the group, we eventually came to a unanimous decision on who will have what jobs for this project. We came to the conclusion that: I will take the role of director, as I have the leadership skills, the determination, and the fact I work well with all the other members of the group. Becky will take the role of editor, as she has the determination to try something new, and gets to grips with new software and challenges fairly easily. Martyn will take the role of storyboard as he has experience in the sector and has immense artistic skills. Finally, Leonie will take role of scriptwriter as she has unbelievable writing abilities and will get the work done to perfection before the deadline. Camera duties will be shared.

Last year, I took the role of editor within the group, in which I feel I took the role seriously, and done the work to a high standard, and co-operated well within the whole group, and contributed well throughout. I chose to take this role as it is a new challenge, unknown territory even, and I hope to take this role and perform to a higher standard than last year.

A director will have to interpret a script very carefully, work out the exact representations of each character, and be able to translate this so the script and storyboard both match each other, both to a professional standard. A director must be able to direct everyone and everything within the production, actors, settings, make-up artists, everything, and they are the key character in the production of any film. Without a director to organise everything, there is no film. They have to be able to turn an actor, into a character as well. They also have to make decisions regarding if there is too much footage, what will have to be cut out, with assistance from the editor of course. They have to decide whether a storyboard and a script are adequate and that they go hand in hand in addition, and whether the film is able to flow with ease. They have to make decisions on where and when to shoot the film and what would happen in the case of something happening at the last second. Professional directors will have completed a program which is done through a film school and will have either a bachelor’s degree or associates degree in film and video production.

Every little detail that comes up on camera will have to be added in by the director, he/she has to be one with the camera, and when filming outside, with a camera that changes exposure, it may do this up to 7 times a shot, so there may be a sudden bright or dark spot within a shot, and this is something else the director has to take into consideration when deciding where and when to film a movie. The same problems occur if the camera changes immediately from dark to bright light, as it has to take time to adapt to the new surroundings.

A whole scene is rarely done in one shot, only in very few circumstances are they done like that. In almost every case, like it was last year, they will be done in many shots, however, some shots will have odd lighting, or something not right, which will make that one shot stand out for all the wrong reasons, making that whole piece look really unprofessional. As the director has to be one with the camera, they should have to learn the advantages and disadvantages of each camera available, and learn about their limitations, and make good use of all the advantages of the camera, and shun out all the disadvantages if possible. Camerawork is not the only technical factor that a director has to be aware of, they also need to be able to position one correctly, take lighting into consideration, timing with the soundtrack, as well as work very closely with the film producer, and in this case it will be the same as the director.

The director will get more credit than almost anyone for a film, as it will say ‘A DIRECTOR’S NAME film’ more than once throughout. Throughout the whole production process they will have to be able to visualise the entire film before any filming or editing begins.

Sources:

http://degreedirectory.org/articles/Film_Directing_Become_a_Film_Director_in_5_Steps.html
http://www.illiteraryfiction.com/movie-director-and-camcorder-auto-mode
http://filmguide.wikia.com/wiki/Film_director

Leonie - Research into Screenwriting

2009-10-27T12:00:00.002Z

My job in the group is screenwriting; therefore I shall be in charge of the scripts for our production. Craig is the Director as we feel he has the correct drive and leadership skills, Rebecca the editor as she has the patience and creativity to complete this job to the right standard and Martyn has the job of drawing the storyboard as he has both the artistic talent and creative mind that enables him to get everything on paper.
As the scripts have to be penned first, I need a good understanding on time management. Last year I was the scriptwriter for our production and found it fairly easy to write, as I practice writing during my spare time.

The job of a scriptwriter is vital, as without a script, there is no film. Producing a film without a script would be a disaster in the making. A scriptwriter decides on the characters, locations and narrative and puts that to paper to the best of their ability and the cast and production team work off that as well as storyboards. If the script is not up to standard, it will affect the film in a large way so it is highly important that it is completed to the very best of my ability, which I am confident I will do.

To help me pen an interesting and concise script I have looked at numerous sources to help me find out how they are set out, how to get everything into a short film I need, the description needed etc. Some of these sources are:
http://www.scottishscreen.com/images/documents/firstwritesScreenComp.pdf
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/filmnetwork/filmmakingguide
Both these show that I will need a clear understanding of the plot, characters and locations. Last year I had to script the opening two minutes of a horror film, and there were only two lines of dialogue. Most of my scripts were made up of locations so I will need to work more on dialogue and perhaps improve my plot lines.

To prepare for my role I have decided to try and pen a few short scripts, and to aid me in this I have Linda Cowgill’s ‘Writing Short Films: Structure and Content for Screenwriters’. This book helps me look into building up strong characters, film structures, tips for good strong plots and how to get people to read between the lines of the short film.

I knew that another good research technique to write a screenplay would be to seek advice off a professional in this area of expertise. After looking, I soon found the screenwriter John August who had written for large movies such as the Corpse Bride and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. He has his own website where many people ask questions all about the film writing techniques and he himself replies as well as other people. This has helped a lot as most of these questions link to the writing process and what not to do.
The website is: http://johnaugust.com/archives/category/qanda/story-and-plot.

I am already looking forward to scripting this short film, even though we haven't really started on the ideas yet!

Martyn - Research: Analysis of a short film: Warning / Error

2009-10-22T20:23:00.000+01:00

I decided to study a short film to get a better understanding for the areas of which my group may want to explore and as the rest of the group is going to look into professionally made / award winning shorts i shall look towards the ametuer area, just to get a better understanding of how it may be for our project.

I during my research i stumbled across an internet company called Roosterteeth, which is based at http://roosterteeth.com/home.php , who make short films to fit a mostly specific audience, mostly in the computer gaming community, and to a certain degree the shorts made do have a deep meaning if one looks deep enough into the film. The series of short films can be found on their own website roosterteeth.com and Youtube.com, and can also be embedded in other webpages such as Facebook and Twitter. This particular one is Warning/Error, it is based partly on the advances in technology and the social fears that occur, professional hollywood disaster films and the effects of internet security. It follows the basis of a comedy, albeit only 4:41 in length giving jokes and one-liners throughout.

Roosterteeth has not won any awards for their films as they are not a company set out on becoming award winning short film producers, it is an ametuer company making ametuer shorts for an ametuer audience, all benefits for the film are for the general public and is funded by a collection of sponsors supporting their work through subscriptions to the sites special features.

The synopsis is a simple but effective one, the characters are working on their respective projects when one stumbles across a computer problem, he then asks his collegue for assistance, who takes a look at the problem when the computer becomes self aware, obviously following the basic movie plot of it wanting to destroy the world, what makes it different is the chemistry between the characters and when another person walks on-set we discover that it may not be a legitimate crisis, this is done with the shot techniques that reveal enough from one perspective but once the connection has been made in the mind it reveals so much more on a psychological level.

The audience targeted for this short is a really diverse one as it could appeal to all within the computer games community and any who find it funny, but if i were to put it into a category i would select teenagers to young adults seeing how childish, yet adult also, the film seems to be and the way it is distributed.

2009-10-22T14:39:00.008+01:00

Becky: Analysis of a short film- ‘Mankind Is No Island’

I decided to study this short film, as I believe it is distinctive, and stood out from the others I looked at, including ‘Signs’. In just 3min 31seconds this short film told an important story and portrayed its message to the audience differently from the others as they did not use verbal communication, they use words found in New York and Sidney, from signs to pictures and objects (signage) they used this to narrate their story. As the director decided to use this method to narrate their story, they had to assure that their target audience would be able to understand the context, and could keep up with the fast pace, also the viewers must have high concentration otherwise their message would not be successfully understood by the public, this potentially could reduce the amount of suitable viewers and audience.

I found this short film on YouTube but it is also available on many other sites including Technorati and VodPod; however it became well known at the Tropfest NY, which is one of the largest short film festivals in the world. This short film, which was created by Jason van Genderen and Shane Emmet, which unusually was shot entirely on a Mobile Phone, appealed to a great number of people and stood out from the other competitors, which made it the winner of the ‘Best Short Film’ and the ‘Peoples Choice’ awards on 29^th September 2008 at the Tropfest NY.

This is a short film is about how the world treats homelessness or people in need of help. They are highlighting that a little bit of time and help can make an impact, even if it is a small compliment or helping someone across the road, these helpful things can only take a couple of seconds but can make a big difference. The main message they are trying to portray, is instead of ignoring the less fortunate people who need help, be generous and help them as it can make a bigger difference than you may have previously think.

‘Mankind Is No Island’ is a documentary as it brings ups and shows the ‘truth behind the scenes’, and that there is a different story around every corner. This documentary is aimed at adults of both genders, as their message is complex and would not be suitable or understood by children or young teenagers. As there is no verbal communication in this short film, it would not be suitable for people who are blind or have poor eyesight, however with today’s technology, a voice player could be available.

It is clear that this short film isn’t a clip from a mainstream film, as there isn’t a film that I am aware of that has continually used the method ‘signage’ to narrative their story. As well as this, it is shot entirely on a mobile phone which makes it differ from most mainstream films. They had the opportunity of using professional filming equipment, but they wanted to prove that an important message and a successful short film doesn’t have to be costly and can be created by different types of technology/products.

Craig: Research: 'The Black Hole'

2009-10-21T18:28:00.000+01:00

The film I have chosen to study is ‘The Black Hole’. This stood out for me when I first watched it as I felt it followed all of the forms of a comedy film, despite only being less than three minutes long. As with a lot of videos, it was found on the website ‘YouTube’ and teaches the importance of karma and greed.

The director of this film is Diamond Dugs (AKA Phil and Olly), who have worked together since 2003 and this film is officially a comedy. The film is commercial and was entered for the National Film Board of Canada festival, in association with the Cannes Film Festival and YouTube. This film was nominated for Best Film in 2009. Other places where it is available is the NFB website as well as returning over 800,000 results on search engine Google when ‘The Black Hole short film’ is entered as a search. It is not available anywhere on DVD. It was shown in festival and is currently only on the internet.

The synopsis is quite simple, a worker prints off what looks like a big black dot, however it is a hole which can allow him to fit through any surface he chooses to. He then decides to go into the company safe and take all the money, he puts his whole self inside by sticking it to the safe, however the paper falls off and he is stuck.

It is clearly a comedy simply by watching it the first time; the punch line is delayed in the film, however it does teach about karma, greed and risk-taking. It is slightly clichéd as well in the idea that bad things happen to bad people and so forth. The worker is the only character and this is emphasised through the editing and shot techniques such as loose framing and the distinct lack of close ups.

A suitable target audience for this film would probably be middle-aged males, as well as teenagers through how it is distributed, as a lot of them who work or worked in that sector could relate to the character, seeing the frustrating side of it as well as the humorous side on top of that.

2009-10-21T17:27:00.000+01:00

Leonie: Analysis of a Short Film - Please!

The film I chose to look at was the one that stood out for me the most. Please! is a short film drama lasting just over 15 minutes and available on numerous websites, but I found it on YouTube. The Director and Writer is Paul Black, who self taught himself the ropes of Directing and Screenwriting to produce this video as well as America Brown, and has also gone on to produce more short films.

He directed the film Please! in five days with a budget of £10,000 to make it, not even having to pay the already growing in popularity actors. The lead actor is the famous Gerard Butler, who went under the name “Gerry Butler”. He was not as popular back then but from then on has gone to stardom with Phantom of the Opera, 300 and P.S I love you.

It is an independent film that is not available on DVD, only broadcasted on the Internet. Please! won two awards at film festivals one being the Palm Springs International ShortFest as the best Live Action under 15 minutes and the Williamsburg Brooklyn Festival for the best Short Film. It was also shortlisted for a BAFTA.

This short film is about a failed novelist called Peter who has lost his family as his dreams crumbled around him. He is now faced with the prospect of living without his daughter and wife and his sanity disappears as he goes round his daily activities wielding a gun. However, his life suddenly turns around when his manuscript is accepted and whilst he is spreading his happiness, his daughter find his gun in the car. As she mistakes it for a toy, she shoots herself but the barrel only has one bullet and as luck would have it, she does not get hurt. The next shot shoots her father with the bullet and it ends him dying on the ground. The form of the film I feel is a chronological drama, showing his slow downward spiral, to go back up again before plummeting to an all time low. It was exciting to watch and always kept me waiting to see what would happen next, with his life and the gun.

The ‘failed writer’ scheme is quite a popular one in the fictional world so it can be seen as an intertexual entity, ideas borrowed off clichés. Please! is very quick to the point and if made into a feature length movie it would not have the same effect. The most pleasing aspect of this short film is that it is short enough to leave you on the edge of your seat to see when he will pull the trigger. All the relevant information is put in the short clip, so it would not be mistaken as a clip from a feature length, mainstream movie.

The target audience is possibly adults and females. It has a complex storyline, with a hint of violence but I say females because it in the end revolves around the love of his family. It could however relate to men but the audience I feel is either female or writers. Writers could be a possible target as it almost seems to be written for writers, showing the obsession and the dedication put into the process of publishing. So, this video could have been directly linked to writers before even put onto screens.

Craig: Initial Research

2009-10-20T17:04:00.004+01:00

There are many ways of finding short films; the most common way nowadays is on youtube.com and short film festivals, however there are different ways of finding these films outside of the internet. Some of these films are found on DVD and can be bought from a DVD shop such as Blockbusters and even other shops such as HMV also provide these, they can also be purchased through websites such as play.com and amazon.com, which is a very common way of obtaining these. There are a wide range of websites that also help distribute these, including the obvious youtube.com, as well as video.google.com and shortfilmcentral.com and newgrounds.com. With the initial research we can now look into short films and analysing them and working out the meaning of those before getting some ideas down.

Martyn - A2 Project Brief

2009-10-15T17:54:00.002+01:00

Today our class received the brief for our A2 media studies project, the choices presented to us were; A Short Film, A Television Advertisment and a Music Video, out of these i chose a short film as it seemed the most interesting to me as last years work really appealed to me, what i didnt know was that the rest of the class felt as i did...so the vote was unanimous and we were all sorted into groups, which turned out exceptionally well for me as i was patnered with a group with the best possible chance of cooperating well together as we're all friends which will help towards finding the best solution of film, the other members of this group are Becky, Craig and Leonie. The short film shall be targeted for a specific audience and will have to be no longer than 5 minutes in length to be truly effective.

Last years project was a fantastic time for me as it helped towards building teamwork and using other peoples knowledge and talents to different uses, although we did have a large complication in the form of two group members leaving halfway through the project, we did pull together to create a fantastic piece, using techniques gained by having to do extra work i really think it helped put time management into perspective, which should help even more with this project.
Last year i was both a storyboarder and editor, which was predictable really as i was the only one in my group last year who had any artistic experience from actually having taken Art as a subject, and this year is no different, but i am not annoyed by this as i love drawing out the storyboards and i know the others have talents that i do not have myself, such as Leonie being the best scriptwriter ans she does English, my only hope is that i have even more fun with this project than i had last year.

2009-10-15T17:14:00.013+01:00

Becky: The Brief-Short Film.

Today I received this years A2 Media Brief, I was happy with the result as creating a short film was my favourite option out of all the choices including making a music video and a TV advertisement. This short film will be designed and created for a specific target audience, and will last for a maximum of 5 minutes or less.

Shortly after we were informed with the brief we got into groups; it was an important decision who to work with, as it is vital that the members of the group will work in sync and well together to produce, hopefully a successful short film. I am happy with the people in my group as I believe that each one will bring positive ideas and skills to our project. I will be working with Leonie; who has impressive writing skills, Craig who has great ICT skills and Martyn who is very creative; with the combination of our skills I believe we will be able to produce an interesting and creative short film.

Last year I was working in a different group, I felt that we did work well together which resulted in a good short film. My job was to write the script for our film, I enjoyed this. The main conversation in our short film was near the beginning between two people, I had to make sure that the script was suitable for the specific situation as well as making sure that it linked well with the narrative.

I am looking forward to this year’s group project, I’m sure we will create an interesting and successful short film.

Craig: Briefing

2009-10-15T16:38:00.000+01:00

A new year, a new project, a new subject, we received the briefing for our next project today, as well as organising ourselves into groups. We were given multiple options on what we could do, however unanimously, we all decided on attempting to make a short film... This short film will be designed at a specific target audience as well as being no more than 5 minutes long in length. We all considered the other options however, music video and soap opera proved to be 2nd and 3rd respectively to the short film however, which ran away as the most popular selection. After much consideration about who to work with in a group, I eventually decided to work in a group with Leonie, Becky and Martyn. All of us get on very well, have good contact with each other and each have the unique skills required for this project.

Last year’s project was unbelievably enjoyable for all of us, especially with everything we went through as a group, including equipment failures as well as multiple members of the group dropping the subject altogether. However, with a lot of work, we pulled through and produced a video to a very high standard. I worked especially well with Becky and decided to keep her on as a member of our group, as I feel her skills will be required in this project too. I worked as the editor last year for our project and this was a key part in the project as once all the planning and producing of the project took place, it was up to me to glue it all together in the right places, as an ICT student, it was also interesting to learn about different programs and how to upload onto computer. I am certain that I will enjoy this project just as much as the previous one and hope to outperform last year's work.

2009-10-15T15:59:00.006+01:00

Leonie: The briefing
Having been given the brief today, I was very pleased with the outcome. As we looked through the options, I did favour the short films and was glad when the decision was made to produce one as a group project. We have to have a specific target audience and work a five minute film around that. We soon got into groups and I chose to be in a group with Becky, Martin and Craig. They are very nice people, as well as easy to work with, having a good rapport.

Last year I was very happy with the turn out of the video in a different group. Being the scriptwriter, I worked hard with my group to produce an abstract opening of a horror movie. However, our group fell apart a little and I feel that affected us, so this time group relationships will have to be stronger, which I think they will be. Last year I enjoyed being the scriptwriter as I am an English student and liked coming up with different ideas for the production. However, I also took up the Director's role during our production as our Director could not attend any of the filming. Above is a snapshot of my AS production, which I enjoyed immensely and hope to have the same enjoyment in this project and quality of outcome.