Wednesday, 15 December 2010
Our Commentary
Here is our tracing steps running commentary. We have gone through the film and
recorded ourselves speaking about it on garage band.
Tuesday, 14 December 2010
Coming to an end...
basically our coursework is coming to an end and hopefully our hard work will pay off.
we have only a few things yet to do and here is a quick list...
- upload of our final film (it is finished now!)
- an upload of our final poster
- an evaluation on how all the products work together and how effective they are
- an quick evaluation of the evaluation (if you understand that, I have been evaluating it as i go along so i will just sum everything up)
- an upload of the commentry me and my partner did in the last lesson, this will be put up tommorrow and will all be included in my evaluation.
- anything else i can think of! but its pretty much all been covered!
we have only a few things yet to do and here is a quick list...
- upload of our final film (it is finished now!)
- an upload of our final poster
- an evaluation on how all the products work together and how effective they are
- an quick evaluation of the evaluation (if you understand that, I have been evaluating it as i go along so i will just sum everything up)
- an upload of the commentry me and my partner did in the last lesson, this will be put up tommorrow and will all be included in my evaluation.
- anything else i can think of! but its pretty much all been covered!
Our final magazine cover
We called our magazine 'Reel', we were really happy about this title as it
is a play on words, 'Reel' - to do with a film reel in the movies but also links with the
word 'Real' - like real life actors, films and events which are all included in a film magazine.
We made only some minor changes to the last blog, for example a bar code is
now added, this makes it look more realistic and conventional of a magazine cover.
We are overall really happy with it. The whole colour scheme of blue, green and white
gives it a sophisticated but also 'fun' feel to the magazine and also attract both male and
female readers.
The pretty close-up is conventional with any magazine but we used this one as it looked better
with the colours and was also inspiration from variety of magazines that we looked at.
is a play on words, 'Reel' - to do with a film reel in the movies but also links with the
word 'Real' - like real life actors, films and events which are all included in a film magazine.
We made only some minor changes to the last blog, for example a bar code is
now added, this makes it look more realistic and conventional of a magazine cover.
We are overall really happy with it. The whole colour scheme of blue, green and white
gives it a sophisticated but also 'fun' feel to the magazine and also attract both male and
female readers.
The pretty close-up is conventional with any magazine but we used this one as it looked better
with the colours and was also inspiration from variety of magazines that we looked at.
We used a conventional layout and added in extras such as audience pleasures to make
it overall more appealing 'free movie poster inside', but also look like a real magazine. The consistent font gives it an in-house style and the tag-line underneath the title is also conventional 'The groovy movie film magazine' makes it flow and is entertaining. However, we feel simplicity is the way to go, we felt this was more conventional of film magazines compared to other magazines. The cover is not packed full of information whereas a glamour magazine would be. Maybe this is because there is a lot of competition between music and glamour magazines whereas people by film magazines to read about the latest block busters.
One last thing we thought was a good idea to do was have the movie 'Tracing steps' in a different and larger font to make it stand out, after all its the main film in the magazine issue. We choose this font because it is similar to the one in our trailer therefore gives the trailer, magazine and soon-to-be poster a in house style and an overall link.
Friday, 10 December 2010
We choose this shot...
We decided on this one, and its looking good so far! a couple of tweaks and its finished!
Our Magazine, which one?
It is a choice between these two shots. They can both be conventional but we need to decide on one that would fit the overall style of the magazine better. We have been looking at black and white film magazines which we like very much therefore we are leaning towards this one. The other one is bright and fun-looking. Imogen looks relaxed and proffessional.
We took so many and it was hard to pick just aa few to edit and work with, it has come down to these two...
All of the different types of film magazines
We wanted to make a list of all the different film magazines out there, and we found one! You dont have to read it all because it is long! but having research and planning is always good. We have looked carefully at a lot of these magazines and took ideas for ourself. This information has been taken off a website and used for our research and planning.
Boxoffice
Box office results, top ten, movie reviews.
Bright Lights
One of the best film magazines online that examines classic, commercial, and independent films from a wide range of vantage points from the aesthetic to the political.
Cineaste
Selected articles from the magazine on the art and politics of the cinema.
Close Up
Online UK film magazine. Find reviews, features and interviews for new cinema and dvd releases, articles on independent, low-budget and regional filmmaking, more.
eFilmCritic.com
Australian movie magazine offering film reviews by visitors to the site.
Empire
Features news, reviews, top movies, upcoming releases, box office results (UK), forum, and more.
Errata
Presents collection of essays, reviews, commentary, and discussion about cinema.
Eye For Film
UK site with movie reviews, news, critique and festival coverage.
Film Comment
Quality magazine providing articles on films old and new, foreign and domestic, narrative and documentary.
Film Journal
Movie reviews, news, and interviews for Hollywood, indie, and foreign films.
Film Threat
Covers cult films, underground shorts, alternative films and independent features.
Filmink Magazine
Provides film news and gossip, movie reviews, video and DVD releases, Australian and international film industry information.
Filmmaker Magazine
Presents an insider's perspective on the world of independent filmmaking, including: interviews, case studies, financing and distribution information, festival reports, technical and production updates, and more.
Films in Review
Online version of the oldest film magazine in the US. Find reviews, interviews and feature articles.
Future Movies
British movie review guide features profiles of new movies, cinema releases and latest DVD reviews.
Guardian Unlimited Film
Film news and reviews from the Guardian and Observer newspapers.
Hollywood Reporter
Newspaper providing movie reviews, box office info, entertainment and celebrity news, more.
iF Magazine
US magazine on indie filmmaking.
Images Journal
Quality reviews and analytical articles on old and recent movies, and popular culture.
Inside Film
Provides news and information on the world's film festivals.
Kamera
Intelligent UK magazine that mainly concentrates on arthouse and independent films.
MovieJuice
Hollywood's movie satire site.
movieScope
Magazine explores the various aspects of filmmaking from the perspective of the filmmakers themselves.
MovieMaker
Guide to independent film and filmmaking from around the world.
Premiere
Features Hollywood movie news, reviews and previews, celebrity interviews and inside stories.
Preview
International magazine packed with information on the latest big screen movies.
Rotten Tomatoes
Reviews and previews of Hollywood movies and videos from the nation's critics.
Screen
Online edition of the bollywood weekly magazine offering Indian movie news and interviews with stars.
Screendaily
Daily film industry news from around the globe, reviews from the world's leading festivals and box office comment from every major territory.
Senses of Cinema
Online film journal devoted to the serious and eclectic discussion of cinema.
Sight and Sound
Well-known magazine from the British Film Institute. Features top ten movies, the best film music, in-depth interviews, retrospective articles and news.
Strictly Film School
Online journal offering a collection of short essays featuring the respective filmmaker's notable films.
Uncut
Popular UK music and film magazine. Features hundreds of music and movie reviews, interviews and news.
Wednesday, 8 December 2010
Todays lesson, snap snap!
Today in this media lesson, I took some LOTS pictures of the gorgeous Imogen, who plays
Summer in 'Tracing Steps', this was for our magazine cover.
Even though our poster is still in the process we thought we would use this time to get ahead of the game and take some snaps.
Her hair and make-up looked very girly which is what we wanted to portray.
Again, we used a veryyy high quality camera so our pictures have a professional feel to them!
I have analysed magazines and we know what genre to we want to have, therefore I took initiative and gave ideas in the certain poses she did, to make it look how we wanted it too.
They turned out lovely and I am looking forward to constructing our magazine cover.
The problem now is choosing the picture we want!
Summer in 'Tracing Steps', this was for our magazine cover.
Even though our poster is still in the process we thought we would use this time to get ahead of the game and take some snaps.
Her hair and make-up looked very girly which is what we wanted to portray.
Again, we used a veryyy high quality camera so our pictures have a professional feel to them!
I have analysed magazines and we know what genre to we want to have, therefore I took initiative and gave ideas in the certain poses she did, to make it look how we wanted it too.
They turned out lovely and I am looking forward to constructing our magazine cover.
The problem now is choosing the picture we want!
Poster Mock-ups
Here are some mock ups of our advertising poster. The pictures show our initial ideas on what we want our outcome to look like. The character of Summer is clearly oblivious to Charlotte's behaviour, as you can see in the pictures she isn't even phased by her watching her closely, she doesn't even know she is their. Their body language is very different, Summer looks relaxed and happy, the first picture it looks like she is casually waiting for someone and the second picture she is texting, both showing she is a popular girl. Charlotte on the other hand looks tense and up-tight, her face is intensely watching Summer. Its very clear to see what is happening in the poster, especially combined with the slogan 'when obsession takes over...how do you control it?'.
We wanted a poster that raises questions amongst the audience but also not too confusing as they won't find this appealing.
The pictures have been edited and the font and layout changed to show differences. The first picture would probably be the best costume wise as Charlotte is wearing grey clothes and this represents her dark character. However, the pictures overall look too bright and this doesn't really fit in with the 'Psychological Thriller' theme.
Tuesday, 7 December 2010
Changing for the audience
Here are some editing changes we made due to our audience feedback.
We are starting to feel really happy with it.
Magazine Textual Analysis, Conventions and Our Inspiration
This is how we want our outcome to be like. The film
magazine promotes the film in a simple yet stylish way.
We have chosen a magazine front cover as one of our subsidiary tasks which will be one of the ways we promote our film, as well as a poster to go with the trailer.
I have been researching film magazines and posters and I will be doing a textual analysis.
I have chosen some magazines here that are similar to what I want my outcome to be like.
For example, most of the magazine covers in this blog are actresses in interviews speaking about
their most recent roles and promoting their work, which is what we will be doing too.
As you can see from the Johnny Deep magazine that film magazines don't have to be glamorous and they often are not. The actor is commonly in role or character dressed as the character they are playing, this helps advertise the film and will ultimately increase sales. We could do this and have Charlotte on the cover looking sinister but we might want to save these sort of shots for the actual poster itself.
Also, one of the most important things is what genre it is. Because of our target audience in our trailer, we have to think carefully what we want our magazine to look like. We reckon the ages of our target audience is around 15-40. It is quite a large age range but we thought that the type of film can appeal to teenagers and adults too. We think this because it is a combination of a lot of different genres and has a wide range of themes in it (love, obsession, jealousy, blood and a bit of gore, hatred and more) - it touches on a lot of themes therefore has something for everyone.However, we have come to the conclusions both male and female teens would watch it but as the age range gets older, we believe it is more female dominant. Males would still be interested however in reading film magazines, therefore it will have to appeal to both genders and a wide variety of ages.
Our protagonists are both females therefore will be promoting the film and one will be on the magazine cover.
The conventions of magazine covers are fairly straight forward and easy to point out if you are use to analysing texts (something which i am very familiar with!)
A magazine has to be eye-catching and appealing to specific audiences. For example, if the magazine is of a music genre, a popular band would appeal to a large audience therefore increase sales. Here, famous actresses and actors are on the cover such as Drew Barrymore, Johnny Deep in Sweeney Tod, Beyonce, are on the front cover, these are all very popular celebrities therefore people will want to read the magazines.
The conventions of magazine covers are fairly straight forward and easy to point out if you are use to analysing texts (something which i am very familiar with!)
A magazine has to be eye-catching and appealing to specific audiences. For example, if the magazine is of a music genre, a popular band would appeal to a large audience therefore increase sales. Here, famous actresses and actors are on the cover such as Drew Barrymore, Johnny Deep in Sweeney Tod, Beyonce, are on the front cover, these are all very popular celebrities therefore people will want to read the magazines.
A magazine (This is any type) would tend to have...
The main title (Masthead), A tag line, a main picture usually a attractive male or female which are famous in some way, sometimes smaller pictures showing what else is included, contain the date/bar code and issue number, cover line, often free things are given away for audience pleasure, teasers, plugs such as PLUS! and interviews. Film magazines are usually set out in a clear way, with informtion either side of the picture and along the bottom. It is usually not too detailed and fonts are only changed to make words stand out, we hope to take these ideas and use them ourself!
We could make our magazine simpler for effect like the one above (Beyonce) this is more common to a film magazine rather than a music or glamour magazine. We really like the simple effect the magazine has. Especially the contrast between black and white image and a bold colour, we may use this in ours!
You can see from the magazine they all have a particular In-house style and this would be consistent with every issue, giving the magazine its individual look.
The main title (Masthead), A tag line, a main picture usually a attractive male or female which are famous in some way, sometimes smaller pictures showing what else is included, contain the date/bar code and issue number, cover line, often free things are given away for audience pleasure, teasers, plugs such as PLUS! and interviews. Film magazines are usually set out in a clear way, with informtion either side of the picture and along the bottom. It is usually not too detailed and fonts are only changed to make words stand out, we hope to take these ideas and use them ourself!
We could make our magazine simpler for effect like the one above (Beyonce) this is more common to a film magazine rather than a music or glamour magazine. We really like the simple effect the magazine has. Especially the contrast between black and white image and a bold colour, we may use this in ours!
You can see from the magazine they all have a particular In-house style and this would be consistent with every issue, giving the magazine its individual look.
Sunday, 5 December 2010
Evaluation: What have you learnt from your audience feedback?
From our audience feedback, we can see that overall the trailer is a success. We have little bits to add, and it turns out the audience were quick to comment on these! But after reassurance of what we are going to do (such as music for the montage) they were happy and able to see what the final outcome would be. We purposely didn't want to finish the WHOLE trailer before the audience saw it, this was because what if they had something really important and helpful to say? We wanted to be able to change it to suite them! After all, it is the audience that will make a film a success.
Here is what the first person in our feedback thought we did well...
* Music at the beginning
* The voice over works particularly well and is good at telling the story in a different way.
* All the scenes in the darkness at the end of the trailer makes it have a creepy feel to the end of it and is a good way of creating suspense!
Here is what the first person thought we could improve on...
* Having a quicker paste montage
* Having a shot to show Charlotte looking at Summer and her boyfriend Sam, which
clearly demonstrates her jealousy and envy of Summer and that she is attracted to him.
* Having a shorter scene of Summer crying, this is to make sure you aren't giving away too much
and thinking its too long.
* Some clips being a bit shorter in length, some are a bit lengthy and unconventional of a trailer.
Here is what the second person in our feedback thought we did well...
* The montage, she says it is really effective and will be even more effective with the music over the top of it.
* The overall storyline is effective and appeals to her.
* She feels that a lot of people would want to watch it and enjoy it.
Here is what the second person thought we could improve on...
* By adding more transitions in it, such as titles like 'Who produced it', 'Who stars in it'
and 'Who directed it'
She says this will help make it more conventional.
* Adding music to the shots in the montage, she says it doesn't fit when its just being quiet and will defiantly would need some dramatic music.
Here is what the first person in our feedback thought we did well...
* Music at the beginning
* The voice over works particularly well and is good at telling the story in a different way.
* All the scenes in the darkness at the end of the trailer makes it have a creepy feel to the end of it and is a good way of creating suspense!
Here is what the first person thought we could improve on...
* Having a quicker paste montage
* Having a shot to show Charlotte looking at Summer and her boyfriend Sam, which
clearly demonstrates her jealousy and envy of Summer and that she is attracted to him.
* Having a shorter scene of Summer crying, this is to make sure you aren't giving away too much
and thinking its too long.
* Some clips being a bit shorter in length, some are a bit lengthy and unconventional of a trailer.
Here is what the second person in our feedback thought we did well...
* The montage, she says it is really effective and will be even more effective with the music over the top of it.
* The overall storyline is effective and appeals to her.
* She feels that a lot of people would want to watch it and enjoy it.
Here is what the second person thought we could improve on...
* By adding more transitions in it, such as titles like 'Who produced it', 'Who stars in it'
and 'Who directed it'
She says this will help make it more conventional.
* Adding music to the shots in the montage, she says it doesn't fit when its just being quiet and will defiantly would need some dramatic music.
Friday, 3 December 2010
Evaluation: Audience Rough Cut Feedback
Here is our audience feedback. We have asked two worthy
volunteers to watch our film and give information on what they liked
about it and what could be improved. They gave some excellent ideas
which we are sure to take on board. We will go away and watch our film through carefully, then we will try to edit some of it to please our audience. We took one older women and one younger teenager to get a contrast on the different things that they like, it gives a good indication of the differences in our target audience (ranging from teens to mid-aged adults)
Wednesday, 1 December 2010
History Of Music In Thriller Films
PSYCHO...
1960
Orchestral!
The famous music from Alfred Hitchcock's thriller, Psycho, has been voted the scariest movie theme tune by viewers! and was composed by Bernard Herrmann.
The music was only made up of strings!
Unusual for a thriller at the time, it used ONLY the string section of the orchestra. The violin music is described as 'screeching' and is heard during the famous shower scene (which originally was meant to be silent) is one of the famous moments in film score history.
THE EXORCIST...
Synthesiser
1973
Originally, Schifrin had written 6 minutes of music for the initial film trailer but audiences were reportedly too scared by its combination of sights and sounds.
Warner Bros. executives told Friedkin to instruct Schifrin to tone it down with softer music, but Friedkin did not relay the message.
The music in the Exorcist compared to Psycho, is more concerned with technology based musical editing rather than pure orchestral sounds.
HALLOWEEN...1978
One major reason for the success of Halloween is the moody musical score, particularly the main theme. Lacking a symphonic soundtrack, the film's score consists of a piano melody played, composed by director John Carpenter. Critic James Berardinelli calls the score "relatively simple and unsophisticated", but admits that "Halloween's music is one of its strongest assets".
The theme music for Halloween has been posted on a previous blog, it shows that simplicity is sometimes the most effective way to create suspense. Only consisting of a few chords, the soundtrack is overall really effective and the simple piano instrumental piece over the top works extremely well.
Friday 13th -1980
The music from Friday 13th was composed by Harry Manfredini and at first the decision from the director was that the music would only to be played alongside with the killer so it would not "manipulate the audience" into thinking the killer was there when they were not. A quote from Manfredini - "There's a scene where one of the girls […] is setting up the archery area of the film. One of the guys shoots an arrow into the target and just misses her. It's a huge scare, but if you notice, there's no music. That was a choice.". He also decided that when something was going to happen, the music would then cut off so that the audience wouldn't expect it, and relax so the scare would be so much more frightening and effective when it did happen. Manfredini was inspired by the film Jawswhere, as the shark is not seen for most of the film and the music appears when it is present.
Silence of the Lambs - 1991
Some of the songs in The Silence of the Lambs (1991) are:
"American Girl" written by Tom Petty
"Alone" written by C. Newman and G. Lewis
"Sunny Day" written by T. Ottaviano
"Real Men" written by B. Licher, M. Erskine, J. Long
"Goldberg Variations" written by Johann Sebastian Bach
"Goodbye Horses" written by W. Garvey
"Hip Priest" written by M.E. Smith, M. Riley, S. Hanley, C. Scanlon, P. Hanley
"Lanmò Nan Zile A" written by Les Freres Parent
Unlike many thriller films such as the other ones we have researched the music about, there is not a constant composer throughout the film. Instead, there are tracks that are freaky or suggest a mood at the time of the music.
The music from Friday 13th was composed by Harry Manfredini and at first the decision from the director was that the music would only to be played alongside with the killer so it would not "manipulate the audience" into thinking the killer was there when they were not. A quote from Manfredini - "There's a scene where one of the girls […] is setting up the archery area of the film. One of the guys shoots an arrow into the target and just misses her. It's a huge scare, but if you notice, there's no music. That was a choice.". He also decided that when something was going to happen, the music would then cut off so that the audience wouldn't expect it, and relax so the scare would be so much more frightening and effective when it did happen. Manfredini was inspired by the film Jawswhere, as the shark is not seen for most of the film and the music appears when it is present.
Silence of the Lambs - 1991
Some of the songs in The Silence of the Lambs (1991) are:
"American Girl" written by Tom Petty
"Alone" written by C. Newman and G. Lewis
"Sunny Day" written by T. Ottaviano
"Real Men" written by B. Licher, M. Erskine, J. Long
"Goldberg Variations" written by Johann Sebastian Bach
"Goodbye Horses" written by W. Garvey
"Hip Priest" written by M.E. Smith, M. Riley, S. Hanley, C. Scanlon, P. Hanley
"Lanmò Nan Zile A" written by Les Freres Parent
Unlike many thriller films such as the other ones we have researched the music about, there is not a constant composer throughout the film. Instead, there are tracks that are freaky or suggest a mood at the time of the music.
Regions And DVDs once produced
All DVDs have a specific region and are allocated to where the film is published and released...
REGION 1 -- USA, Canada
REGION 2 -- Japan, Europe, South Africa, Middle East, Greenland
REGION 3 -- S.Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Parts of South East Asia
REGION 4 -- Australia, New Zealand, Latin America (including Mexico)
REGION 5 -- Eastern Europe, Russia, India, Africa
REGION 6 -- China
REGION 7 -- Reserved for Unspecified Special Use
REGION 8 -- Reserved for Cruise Ships, Airlines, etc...
REGION 0 or REGION ALL -- Discs are uncoded and can be played Worldwide, however, PAL discs must be played in a PAL-compatible unit and NTSC discs must be played in an NTSC-compatible unit.
REGION 1 -- USA, Canada
REGION 2 -- Japan, Europe, South Africa, Middle East, Greenland
REGION 3 -- S.Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Parts of South East Asia
REGION 4 -- Australia, New Zealand, Latin America (including Mexico)
REGION 5 -- Eastern Europe, Russia, India, Africa
REGION 6 -- China
REGION 7 -- Reserved for Unspecified Special Use
REGION 8 -- Reserved for Cruise Ships, Airlines, etc...
REGION 0 or REGION ALL -- Discs are uncoded and can be played Worldwide, however, PAL discs must be played in a PAL-compatible unit and NTSC discs must be played in an NTSC-compatible unit.
This was put into our blogs to show our knowledge of distribution :)
As we will publish ours in England, and if we were to sell it, sell it in England, it will be a region 2 DVD.
As we will publish ours in England, and if we were to sell it, sell it in England, it will be a region 2 DVD.
Our Scenes
What a masterpeice! This is a collage of ALL the shots in our trailer to really show, broken down what it is like! You can see by looking at this the wide variety of camera shots that we used and different locations to really mix it up to make it look like a real film!
Monday, 29 November 2010
Classification
These are the 7 types of classifications you get on different films.
For our trailer we have chosen the certifficate 15.
This means that no-one under the age of 15 is able to watch this film.
According to The British board of Film Classification the following is only able to be shown
in a 15 movie...
http://www.bbfc.co.uk/classification/guidelines/15-2
This is what the BBFC say about violence in 15 horror films.
Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. The strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable. Strong sadistic or sexualised violence is also unlikely to be acceptable. There may be detailed verbal references to sexual violence but any portrayal of sexual violence must be discreet and have a strong contextual justification.
Single White Female Poster
Looking at the conventions we have noticed a lot about posters.
* The actresses names are on the top of the poster - on their heads which on is which.
* The tag line is on the bottom of the poster- this is to interest the viewers.
* There is a consistent font and colour.
* The audience can tell what the genre is by the expression of there faces, one looks worried and the psychotic character looks longingly behind a close door, showing her stalker side.
* The actual Title is done very cleverly indeed, the film title has a double meaning as it is also advertising for a new roommate, the title is a cut out of the newspaper in which the ad would of been put in.
* The film has directors and producers names at the bottom and has
'COMING TO A CINEMA NEAR YOU' which is also a convention of a advertising poster.
Music for the montage
We are having trouble finding a good piece of instrumental music to fit in with our montage.
Its only a quick part of the trailer but it is very effective and the climax of our film. This is why it needs to be thrilling and suspenseful.
We may need to compose our own piece on garage band. But this may be too simple or sound a bit unprofessional, we need to figure this one out!
Its only a quick part of the trailer but it is very effective and the climax of our film. This is why it needs to be thrilling and suspenseful.
We may need to compose our own piece on garage band. But this may be too simple or sound a bit unprofessional, we need to figure this one out!
Analysis of the 3 codes in our media text, part 3
Camera Shots...
A particular camera shot or angle can be vital when portraying a particular scene. Within our media text there are a lot of different camera shots used to represent different characters, including how important they are in the scene, the mood of the scene and to show the different range of camera shots and our knowledge. It also has to be clear to the audience what is actually going on in the scene, the camera shots should tell a story in the best way possible and do little to confuse the audience (unless purposely made for effect).
This blog will go through each shot we use and how this is used for representation.
- A shot of Charlotte looking in the classroom, making sure we don't break the 180 degree rule, this was mainly used for a close-up on Charlotte's face, peering in. Showing a slight bit of anxiety on her face the audience is aware she is nervous.
- An establishing shot of Charlotte entering the room. Summer is already sitting down with some friends showing she is popular.
- Next is a low angled shot of Summer shaking Charlotte's hand, this is to show the two being introduced, the audience can guess that these two have been acquainted.
- A wide, two-shot of Summer and Charlotte working at a table, this portrays the growth in their friendship.
- A title is then shown
- A mid-shot of Charlotte going into Summers back garden is used to show the action clearly.
- We are very proud of the next shots in the sequence, Summer is close to the camera and walks past her bedroom window doing her hair, an extreme long-shot is used here as when she walks past Charlotte is standing in the garden. This shows her stalking behaviour and when the audience see her here, they are quite shocked as the camera shot is unexpected.
- A reverse shot goes from Charlotte, to what she is looking at, to the back of her head. She looks away vacantly in the wind. - A shot of Summer and her boyfriend, Sam are walking together, this is a wide angled shot showing the two sharing a close relationship. The next shot is effective as it is a two-shot close up showing loving looks from one another, a kiss and then Sam walking off into the red doors, showing he is walking towards danger.
- The next shot is Charlotte hiding behind the red door Sam is about to walk through. The shot is again wide to represent her vulnerability and her increasingly worrying behaviour.
- THE MONTAGE
...this has already been explained in previous blog but is basically a combination of the most thrilling action throughout 'Tracing Steps'.
- After the montage the music goes quiet and there is a wide shot of a dark hall way and a closed-door. The door swings open and Charlotte runs towards the camera screaming.
- There is then a close-up of Charlotte crying, showing her emotion by using a close up of her face.
- The last shot is effective as it was filmed from behind Charlotte into the mirror so both sides of her has been shown here, the shot is a mid-shot to show the composition of the room and also her creepy and slightly pleased expression, this is then faded out to our title.
A particular camera shot or angle can be vital when portraying a particular scene. Within our media text there are a lot of different camera shots used to represent different characters, including how important they are in the scene, the mood of the scene and to show the different range of camera shots and our knowledge. It also has to be clear to the audience what is actually going on in the scene, the camera shots should tell a story in the best way possible and do little to confuse the audience (unless purposely made for effect).
This blog will go through each shot we use and how this is used for representation.
- A shot of Charlotte looking in the classroom, making sure we don't break the 180 degree rule, this was mainly used for a close-up on Charlotte's face, peering in. Showing a slight bit of anxiety on her face the audience is aware she is nervous.
- An establishing shot of Charlotte entering the room. Summer is already sitting down with some friends showing she is popular.
- Next is a low angled shot of Summer shaking Charlotte's hand, this is to show the two being introduced, the audience can guess that these two have been acquainted.
- A wide, two-shot of Summer and Charlotte working at a table, this portrays the growth in their friendship.
- A title is then shown
- A mid-shot of Charlotte going into Summers back garden is used to show the action clearly.
- We are very proud of the next shots in the sequence, Summer is close to the camera and walks past her bedroom window doing her hair, an extreme long-shot is used here as when she walks past Charlotte is standing in the garden. This shows her stalking behaviour and when the audience see her here, they are quite shocked as the camera shot is unexpected.
- A reverse shot goes from Charlotte, to what she is looking at, to the back of her head. She looks away vacantly in the wind. - A shot of Summer and her boyfriend, Sam are walking together, this is a wide angled shot showing the two sharing a close relationship. The next shot is effective as it is a two-shot close up showing loving looks from one another, a kiss and then Sam walking off into the red doors, showing he is walking towards danger.
- The next shot is Charlotte hiding behind the red door Sam is about to walk through. The shot is again wide to represent her vulnerability and her increasingly worrying behaviour.
- THE MONTAGE
...this has already been explained in previous blog but is basically a combination of the most thrilling action throughout 'Tracing Steps'.
- After the montage the music goes quiet and there is a wide shot of a dark hall way and a closed-door. The door swings open and Charlotte runs towards the camera screaming.
- There is then a close-up of Charlotte crying, showing her emotion by using a close up of her face.
- The last shot is effective as it was filmed from behind Charlotte into the mirror so both sides of her has been shown here, the shot is a mid-shot to show the composition of the room and also her creepy and slightly pleased expression, this is then faded out to our title.
Changes...
We changed our montage and took out the fades, this is because it was too much and not very conventional.
We need to put in our thrilling music...which have still to do!
Saturday, 27 November 2010
Our Advertising Poster
For our subsidiary tasks we haven chosen to do a magazine cover that advertises our film and a advertising poster. We have been researching both these texts to try and get an element of what conventions they use. After brain storming some ideas we came up with a few and decided to put them into practice to see what they would look like. We started by composing the characters and taking pictures, and these are them :)
We came up with this main idea from the poster 'Single White Female' which has been one of our main media influences when doing our coursework.
(This will be analysed on another blog)
We first came up with the idea of Summer and Charlotte being separated in the poster by a door or a wall, this was to show Charlotte's 'stalker' and psychologically messed up side! We took some test shots (please keep in mind these are only testers!) to see how this would look. We love the expression in Charlotte's face, it shows her longing to be close to Summer and wanting everything she has and wanting to just be her. We thought it might be a good idea to bring in Summer's boyfriend, Sam, in the pictures to really show Charlotte's jealous side and to add another twist on things. We might use this composition for our advertising poster but with a better camera, selected wardrobe and lighting!
Thursday, 25 November 2010
analyse the effects of the 3 codes in my media text, part 2
Symbolic Codes.
Well, there is a variety of reasons why we 'did the things we did', its not always apparent to the audience, a lot of people don't actually watch a film and think 'that jacket represents his mood', however, there is in fact a lot of people who do and most symbolic codes are too obvious that the audience processes them automatically, e.g. there is a character holding a blood-covered knife - the audience automatically can tell what character they are - violent, angry and murderess.
Therefore, the symbolic codes in a media text are just as important as anything such as the type of text, or camera shot used. A symbolic codes can be anything to do with mise en scene, clothes the particular colours etc.
There are a few scenes in our trailer where the character's feelings, mood and personality come through because of their clothes and particular surroundings.
There is a scene where Charlotte is outside Summer's house, wearing a grey hooddie. This was used to demonstrate her mood, grey, distraught and also slightly cunning. The weather was also drizzly, cloudy and cold, so these factors made the scene look eerie and mysterious.
In our trailer, we liked the idea of using bright red doors when filming. Even someone who was watching our clip saw this and mentioned it! The trailer is meant to start off slowly and calmly and increase with suspense as it goes on, e.g. it starts off with symbolic red doors and moves to blood on Charlotte's hand! We first used the doors when Charlotte sneaks into Summer's garden and in school when Charlotte is spying on Summer and her boyfriend.
Summer in our trailer is the sweet, popular girl who is loved by everyone. Her dress sense therefore has to reflect this. She is always looking stylish and is the envy of other girls with her perfect life, but this takes a turn when Charlotte befriends her.
In the montage and thrilling scenes we used fake blood for a gruesome but not 'disgustingly Gorey' effect, and the audience wonder 'who is that from?' this helps portray the deeply disturbed character of Charlotte. We also smudged Summers make-up to show how upset she is and her despair, she is usually a tough character but with the recent events she faces the audience can see her emotion when she is crying in the end scene. Her body language is completely different to earlier scenes when she is her happy and confident self.
Well, there is a variety of reasons why we 'did the things we did', its not always apparent to the audience, a lot of people don't actually watch a film and think 'that jacket represents his mood', however, there is in fact a lot of people who do and most symbolic codes are too obvious that the audience processes them automatically, e.g. there is a character holding a blood-covered knife - the audience automatically can tell what character they are - violent, angry and murderess.
Therefore, the symbolic codes in a media text are just as important as anything such as the type of text, or camera shot used. A symbolic codes can be anything to do with mise en scene, clothes the particular colours etc.
There are a few scenes in our trailer where the character's feelings, mood and personality come through because of their clothes and particular surroundings.
There is a scene where Charlotte is outside Summer's house, wearing a grey hooddie. This was used to demonstrate her mood, grey, distraught and also slightly cunning. The weather was also drizzly, cloudy and cold, so these factors made the scene look eerie and mysterious.
In our trailer, we liked the idea of using bright red doors when filming. Even someone who was watching our clip saw this and mentioned it! The trailer is meant to start off slowly and calmly and increase with suspense as it goes on, e.g. it starts off with symbolic red doors and moves to blood on Charlotte's hand! We first used the doors when Charlotte sneaks into Summer's garden and in school when Charlotte is spying on Summer and her boyfriend.
Summer in our trailer is the sweet, popular girl who is loved by everyone. Her dress sense therefore has to reflect this. She is always looking stylish and is the envy of other girls with her perfect life, but this takes a turn when Charlotte befriends her.
In the montage and thrilling scenes we used fake blood for a gruesome but not 'disgustingly Gorey' effect, and the audience wonder 'who is that from?' this helps portray the deeply disturbed character of Charlotte. We also smudged Summers make-up to show how upset she is and her despair, she is usually a tough character but with the recent events she faces the audience can see her emotion when she is crying in the end scene. Her body language is completely different to earlier scenes when she is her happy and confident self.
analysis of last uploaded clip.
The video that has just been posted below is basically our most up to date and recent clip of our trailer. I have gone through what needs to be done and edited before being completed. This lesson we also gained some audience feedback from a willing volunteer. They had some interesting things to say about our clip and this will be uploaded shortly, it Will also help when it comes to our evaluation.
Firstly, the thing that need working on...
An observer of our trailer queried about the hand-shake that is exchanged between Charlotte and Summer, however, only their hands are shown not their faces. They asked 'how do we know who this handshake is between?', after explaining that trailers aren't meant to reveal much to the audience and that the next clip is them sitting at the table, we felt the audience would assume that would come to mind is that the two girls have become friendly with each other. We do not know if we are to change this at the present time, because this shot is also very conventional of a trailer.
We also might edit the scene where Summer and her boyfriend, Sam, kiss. This is because its not quite clear if Charlotte is in fact spying on them. Also, the wait between 'An Obsession' and 'That turns fatal' is quite long, we wanted to have the sequence without any interruptions as it is one of our favourite ones (where Charlotte is outside Summers window) however, this may be confusing for the audience. We will gather more feedback to the audience to see if this needs to be altered as well.
The music, you may notice, fades in and out at random times. This needs to be altered because it was originally turned down for voice overs, however we felt that the voice-overs worked better in other parts of the trailer.
As much that needs to be done (hopefully not much, just the odd bit!) we are very happy with how some of it looks. The montage as you can tell is coming together well, we have an idea for the end of this, which if goes well, will turn out very effective! Its to have the already fast-cut clips edited together even faster till suddenly with the music it stops. This is to create an eerie feel as Charlotte comes screaming out of the door 'DON'T RUNAWAY FROM ME!'
We need to get some tense music to go with our montage as this is the climax in the trailer therefore we want it to look good!
The last scene of Summer crying is an emotional end to the trailer. Hopefully the intended effective will be achieved and the audience will be drawn in to the tension of the montage then suddenly to the emotion of Summer crying.
Firstly, the thing that need working on...
An observer of our trailer queried about the hand-shake that is exchanged between Charlotte and Summer, however, only their hands are shown not their faces. They asked 'how do we know who this handshake is between?', after explaining that trailers aren't meant to reveal much to the audience and that the next clip is them sitting at the table, we felt the audience would assume that would come to mind is that the two girls have become friendly with each other. We do not know if we are to change this at the present time, because this shot is also very conventional of a trailer.
We also might edit the scene where Summer and her boyfriend, Sam, kiss. This is because its not quite clear if Charlotte is in fact spying on them. Also, the wait between 'An Obsession' and 'That turns fatal' is quite long, we wanted to have the sequence without any interruptions as it is one of our favourite ones (where Charlotte is outside Summers window) however, this may be confusing for the audience. We will gather more feedback to the audience to see if this needs to be altered as well.
The music, you may notice, fades in and out at random times. This needs to be altered because it was originally turned down for voice overs, however we felt that the voice-overs worked better in other parts of the trailer.
As much that needs to be done (hopefully not much, just the odd bit!) we are very happy with how some of it looks. The montage as you can tell is coming together well, we have an idea for the end of this, which if goes well, will turn out very effective! Its to have the already fast-cut clips edited together even faster till suddenly with the music it stops. This is to create an eerie feel as Charlotte comes screaming out of the door 'DON'T RUNAWAY FROM ME!'
We need to get some tense music to go with our montage as this is the climax in the trailer therefore we want it to look good!
The last scene of Summer crying is an emotional end to the trailer. Hopefully the intended effective will be achieved and the audience will be drawn in to the tension of the montage then suddenly to the emotion of Summer crying.
Wednesday, 24 November 2010
Monday, 22 November 2010
Friday, 19 November 2010
a slight bit of rule breaking...
Today we did a bit more of filming, and yes I realise, it is not
proffessional to start editing before the end of filming.
But we are still short of essential footage and we want to complete
our all important montage scene for the climax of the trailer.
But, today i felt, was very successful.
We wanted to add a slight bit of gore to our trailer without
making it look fake, exaggerated and give too much away.
We decided to have some quick, snappy shots of Charlotte with
blood (fake of course) on her hands. The actual fake blood looks really
effective in the shots, there is one where she walks passed a white collum and
smears her hands on it, leaving a trail of blood. This creates an enigma code
and hopefully makes the audience wonder who's blood that is...what is she
doing?/has done?
All these questions are designed to be wondered in the trailer for the audience
to find out the answers, they have to simply come and see the film!
Another shot was Summer getting dragged back, she looks as if she is
trying to escape from somewhere, this will be added into our montage,
as well as the close up we have of her looking around - it is pitch dark and
her expression looks terrified, she also has a bloody noise and some scratches -
again, the audience is wondering why? Suddenly Charlottes face appears from
behind Summer. This, combined with some thrilling music, we feel will
have an intense effect.
We borrowed an extremley savage looking knife for some scenes in our montage.
While watching trailers we also noticed that quick close-ups of objects are often used.
We decided to use the knife and Charlotte holding it, this has
been taken from the film 'Obsessed' where this also happened, showing
conventions of a real thriller trailer.
The footage will be put together and shown on a blog very soon!
proffessional to start editing before the end of filming.
But we are still short of essential footage and we want to complete
our all important montage scene for the climax of the trailer.
But, today i felt, was very successful.
We wanted to add a slight bit of gore to our trailer without
making it look fake, exaggerated and give too much away.
We decided to have some quick, snappy shots of Charlotte with
blood (fake of course) on her hands. The actual fake blood looks really
effective in the shots, there is one where she walks passed a white collum and
smears her hands on it, leaving a trail of blood. This creates an enigma code
and hopefully makes the audience wonder who's blood that is...what is she
doing?/has done?
All these questions are designed to be wondered in the trailer for the audience
to find out the answers, they have to simply come and see the film!
Another shot was Summer getting dragged back, she looks as if she is
trying to escape from somewhere, this will be added into our montage,
as well as the close up we have of her looking around - it is pitch dark and
her expression looks terrified, she also has a bloody noise and some scratches -
again, the audience is wondering why? Suddenly Charlottes face appears from
behind Summer. This, combined with some thrilling music, we feel will
have an intense effect.
We borrowed an extremley savage looking knife for some scenes in our montage.
While watching trailers we also noticed that quick close-ups of objects are often used.
We decided to use the knife and Charlotte holding it, this has
been taken from the film 'Obsessed' where this also happened, showing
conventions of a real thriller trailer.
The footage will be put together and shown on a blog very soon!
Monday, 15 November 2010
More Footage...
Here is some footage that we filmed recently. The scenes show Charlotte's jealousy towards Summer and determination to win over her boyfriend. He is reluctant to let her anywhere near him.
We also did some shots of Summer and her boyfriend to show the audience a clear and happy
relationship between the two, and Charlotte attempting to ruin this. One was a wide shot of
the two holding hands, talking and smiling. A simple shot like this tells a lot about the characters which is what is needed in a trailer.
This was the first time we were filming Mark who played the role of Sam and thought him and Grace (Charlotte) worked well together. When he pushes Charlotte away, the expression on her face looks simply distraught. She feels failed in her attempt to win him over so she must take more drastic action.
This has quickly been edited together so there is no music or effects, simply the footage we may or may not edit into our final clip.
We still need a bit more footage, and to start editing our conventional and important montage scene. We may use some of these scenes here, clipped down and sped up to fit in with the montage.
Wednesday, 10 November 2010
Analyse the effects of the three 'codes' in my Media Text
Audio Codes...
This code includes the use of dialogue, music and instrument choice.
First of all we choose our music very carefully. Using garage band we were
able to mix our music together so it was able to increase in volume and tempo when needed to create effect such as suspense or just to be quieter when dialogue needs to be heard.
Our Field Audio (the sound that is created and recorded during production such as dialogue) is often re-recorded over as a voiceover over the clip so it is able to be heard more clearer. This is also to go with the conventions of a trailer. This makes the sound better to hear and the audience can understand the effect of music.
The first track called 'Uninvited' was originally an acoustic peice. The melody and tune of this song is very eerie and the piano instrument at the start is not only quiet and mysterious but also conventional as it is often used in the beginning of films and trailers. We combined this track with the same (more recent) upbeat one that had been remixed. This is cued in as the action is increasing, this is typical of a trailer and is often used for tension building up to the montage.
After the climax in the trailer we decided to use the song 'White Blank Page' which is slow and sad, which fits in very well with Summer crying and being mentally tortured by Charlotte. The lyrics also go in very well with our theme. It is often that more than one song is used in a trailer, a fast paste one and a slow one to end the clip, which is exactly what we used.
This code includes the use of dialogue, music and instrument choice.
First of all we choose our music very carefully. Using garage band we were
able to mix our music together so it was able to increase in volume and tempo when needed to create effect such as suspense or just to be quieter when dialogue needs to be heard.
Our Field Audio (the sound that is created and recorded during production such as dialogue) is often re-recorded over as a voiceover over the clip so it is able to be heard more clearer. This is also to go with the conventions of a trailer. This makes the sound better to hear and the audience can understand the effect of music.
The first track called 'Uninvited' was originally an acoustic peice. The melody and tune of this song is very eerie and the piano instrument at the start is not only quiet and mysterious but also conventional as it is often used in the beginning of films and trailers. We combined this track with the same (more recent) upbeat one that had been remixed. This is cued in as the action is increasing, this is typical of a trailer and is often used for tension building up to the montage.
After the climax in the trailer we decided to use the song 'White Blank Page' which is slow and sad, which fits in very well with Summer crying and being mentally tortured by Charlotte. The lyrics also go in very well with our theme. It is often that more than one song is used in a trailer, a fast paste one and a slow one to end the clip, which is exactly what we used.
Editing Techniques
Editing is an art of story telling, therefore, it is a very important part of our coursework, the trailer (or particular genre you are producing) has to flow and look believable.
The shots the editor chooses and the order in which they are combined sets the space and time of the film and guides the audience's attention.
Here are some common continuity editing techniques. I have included here to show my knowledge and understanding, I will also relate it to my coursework to demonstrate how I have been aware of the different techniques and rules of editing. And also about the conventions for trailers.
One thing that isn't yet in our trailer but will soon be edited in is our montage sequence. This is a series of short shots that are edited together in a sequence to advance the narrative. It is commonly used in trailer to create suspense to the audience. In many cases a song is played in the background to enhance the mood. The way in which images are joined can produce shock, excitement and fascination.
The 180 degree rule is the imaginary line that passes from side to side through the actors. It basically cannot be broken (unless for effect) this is for many reasons but mainly not to confuse or loose the dialogue or any important parts of the film. In our coursework we made sure we didn't break the rule, look at our first scene...Charlotte opens the door and when she walks into the classroom the camera is also on the same side, this makes the continuity flow and doesn't confuse the audience.
Match on action is an edit that puts two different shots of the same action together, making it appear to continue uninterrupted. This is used when Charlotte is outside Summers house. We use a total of 3 shots for this piece of action. One is a close up of a long angled shot looking up at Charlotte. The next cuts to Summer in her room, However the audience can see Charlotte outside, it is therefore the same piece of action just different perspectives, the last cut is from behind Charlotte and her turning her head.
Shot, reverse shot is used when two shots are edited back and forth between two characters. This is not currently in our trailer but will be between Summer and her boyfriend.
The shots the editor chooses and the order in which they are combined sets the space and time of the film and guides the audience's attention.
Here are some common continuity editing techniques. I have included here to show my knowledge and understanding, I will also relate it to my coursework to demonstrate how I have been aware of the different techniques and rules of editing. And also about the conventions for trailers.
One thing that isn't yet in our trailer but will soon be edited in is our montage sequence. This is a series of short shots that are edited together in a sequence to advance the narrative. It is commonly used in trailer to create suspense to the audience. In many cases a song is played in the background to enhance the mood. The way in which images are joined can produce shock, excitement and fascination.
The 180 degree rule is the imaginary line that passes from side to side through the actors. It basically cannot be broken (unless for effect) this is for many reasons but mainly not to confuse or loose the dialogue or any important parts of the film. In our coursework we made sure we didn't break the rule, look at our first scene...Charlotte opens the door and when she walks into the classroom the camera is also on the same side, this makes the continuity flow and doesn't confuse the audience.
Match on action is an edit that puts two different shots of the same action together, making it appear to continue uninterrupted. This is used when Charlotte is outside Summers house. We use a total of 3 shots for this piece of action. One is a close up of a long angled shot looking up at Charlotte. The next cuts to Summer in her room, However the audience can see Charlotte outside, it is therefore the same piece of action just different perspectives, the last cut is from behind Charlotte and her turning her head.
Shot, reverse shot is used when two shots are edited back and forth between two characters. This is not currently in our trailer but will be between Summer and her boyfriend.
Tuesday, 9 November 2010
Tracing Steps...Coming Together
We finally have found a name for our film! It is called 'Tracing Steps'
to give the idea of copying and stalking.
This is our most recent upload and edit of our film.
As you can see the sound is very obvious. It still needs to be edited
in a lot of places but we did choose the music very carefully. The
main track 'Uninvited' works extremely well with the theme of our
movie. We made the music our own by combining two tracks and fitting it in with
the particular clips. The opening scene we feel works well, with the muttering of
the class and Charlotte peering in, showing her vulnerability and nerves
as it is her first day. The montage of the music coming in slowly and the door being
opened near the camera flows well. The next scene where Charlotte is sitting
down near Summer and a voice over is heard, the music fades in order for the
audience to hear it.
The shots we feel work very well are the ones where Charlotte is in the garden and Summer is oblivious to this.
The ending of this clip is also something we are proud of. For example after Charlotte screams the slow music comes in. This is very conventional of a trailer. We still need however to create our fast paste montage to create suspense and tension as this is used in most trailers. This will be in the middle of the trailer before cueing the sad music. The transition between Charlotte mimicking Summer in the mirror and the title 'Tracing Steps' we find is affective.
Wednesday, 3 November 2010
Our First Editing Session
To make my progress clear, I am going to blog every film to make
sure that I keep up to date.
Monday, 1 November 2010
Call Sheet
This was created to keep organised, just like the professionals!
Production Office: Southfield School Directors: Imogen Brown and
Kettering Carly Chamberlain
Location 1: Long Fellow Park, Kettering
Location 2: Southfield School, Kettering
Cast Character
Grace Meredith Charlotte Westbridge
Imogen Brown Summer Freeman
Greg Hughes Matt (Summer's boyfriends best friend)
Mark Drakeford Sam (Summer's current boyfriend)
Carly Chamberlain Chloe (Summer's best friend)
Chloe Pitts In the friendship group
Ellie tate In the friendship group
Philip Swain Teacher
Camera: Carly Chamberlain
Production: Imogen Brown, Carly Chamberlain
Location: Imogen Brown, Philip Swain.
Contact Number.
+447867524223
Filming Schedule.
Friday: Grace will come to Imogen's house to complete the following scenes.
Location: Imogen's house, using the landing, hallway, garden and side gate.
* Shot of Charlotte entering Summer's house and Shot of Summer doing her hair while Charlotte is in the garden.
Saturday: Complete more scenes.
Location: Imogen's house, front of the house and bedroom.
* Shots of Summer walking out the house with Charlotte round the back of the
* Charlotte putting a wig on to copy how Summer looks.
* Scene of Charlotte and Summers Boyfriend.
Monday:
Location: School
* Shot of classroom scenes
* Summer and her friends scenes.
Production Office: Southfield School Directors: Imogen Brown and
Kettering Carly Chamberlain
Location 1: Long Fellow Park, Kettering
Location 2: Southfield School, Kettering
Cast Character
Grace Meredith Charlotte Westbridge
Imogen Brown Summer Freeman
Greg Hughes Matt (Summer's boyfriends best friend)
Mark Drakeford Sam (Summer's current boyfriend)
Carly Chamberlain Chloe (Summer's best friend)
Chloe Pitts In the friendship group
Ellie tate In the friendship group
Philip Swain Teacher
Camera: Carly Chamberlain
Production: Imogen Brown, Carly Chamberlain
Location: Imogen Brown, Philip Swain.
Contact Number.
+447867524223
Filming Schedule.
Friday: Grace will come to Imogen's house to complete the following scenes.
Location: Imogen's house, using the landing, hallway, garden and side gate.
* Shot of Charlotte entering Summer's house and Shot of Summer doing her hair while Charlotte is in the garden.
Saturday: Complete more scenes.
Location: Imogen's house, front of the house and bedroom.
* Shots of Summer walking out the house with Charlotte round the back of the
* Charlotte putting a wig on to copy how Summer looks.
* Scene of Charlotte and Summers Boyfriend.
Monday:
Location: School
* Shot of classroom scenes
* Summer and her friends scenes.
Here is some of our first filming that we did and some of the shots we will use in our
actual film because some are quite effective.
For example, the one where Charlotte is standing in the garden and Summer
Walks passed oblivious to her while she is doing her hair. This is quite a conventional
scene, e.g in films where there is an obsessed person they are often there when the other
person is unaware.
Currently there is no music and this will obviously be added for affect. This post also
acts like a test shot as it gives us an overall idea of what we need to do in order to make the trailer effective and also to give us an idea of what it may look like.
Filming Schedule
Filming In the holidays...
Friday: Grace will come to Imogen's house and we will aim to complete the following scenes.
Location: Imogen's house, using the landing, hallway, garden and side gate.
* Shot of Charlotte entering Summer's house
* Shots of Charlotte in Summers garden, spying on her.
* Shot of Summer doing her hair while Charlotte is in the garden.
* Charlotte screaming 'Don't run away from me'.
Saturday: We will aim to complete more scenes.
Location: Imogen's house, front of the house and bedroom.
* Shots of Summer walking out the house with Charlotte round the back of the
* Charlotte putting a wig on to copy how Summer looks.
Filming during term time...
Location: School
* Shot of classroom scenes
* Summer and her friends scenes.
* Composing of music
* Scene of Charlotte and Summers Boyfriend
Friday, 15 October 2010
Creating Charlotte Westbridge
This is our Psychotic Character, inspired from a range of different characters from famous films, (obsessed, The Roomate, Single White female and more) we have created 'Charlotte Westbridge'. We have looked at conventions of a trailer and researched psychological thrillers in depth. We chose a talented drama student to be this character, which is key to make the character convincing and as psychotic as possible. There is a picture of me creating the dark circles under her eyes, this makes the character more neglected and 'hard-done-by'. It also show her tiredness and desperate attempts to get close to Charlotte. At first she has to seem fairly normal but with a unusual and strange way of speaking and body language. Her behaviour gets worse and eventually deteriorates. However, the resolution to the trailer is not shown and is a mystery, making the film appealing and leaves the audience wanting more.
Wednesday, 13 October 2010
The Characters
These pictures show the particular characters we will use in our film. There is a general description about each one. We feel confident about our cast, most are drama students with a lot of talent, it should be easier to make our film look more effective.
The group of friends of friends are Summer’s ‘gang’, she is a popular girl so we wanted to portray this by having a big group of friends. In some scenes Summer will be chatting and laughing with them, this is to show the audience what character she is. This is not yet the definite group as we will cast properly near the time, but we wanted some shots of boys and girls laughing and having fun together.
The pictures are of the popular girl, Summer, is shown here, Imogen will definitely be playing this role. One picture shows the confident and quirky side to her and the other picture shows the more arrogant and 'knows she's popular' look.
The picture of the older male is Mr. Swain, who is the teacher who asks Summer to befriend Charlotte.
The next picture is of Chris, Summer's boyfriend. He looks friendly, good looking
and also conserved 'knows he's popular' look. He is in a happy relationship with Summer and they both go well together.
We also took a picture of Chris’s best friend, as he may have a role to play in it/
Summer's best friend is friendly and caring, her a Summer have a strong friendship however, while Summer sees good in everybody, Chloe does not. She tries to warn her about Charlottes behaviour but Summer at first brushes it off
Our Location Shots
These are some photo's we took for our location. It was done so that the scenes we shoot will show these types of location. A shot of the front of the house is shown when Summer comes out of her home and Charlotte is waiting there for her. We took shots at both night and in the day to get a contrast of what it will look like on film. Taking the photos in the night also show the eerie feel when Charlotte's mad behaviour increases, for example, there are some shots in the evening when she is in Summers Garden.
The shots of the side of the house are used to show when Charlotte hides and spies on Summer.
There is also a picture of Summer's room where Charlotte breaks in and drugs Summers boyfriend.
These location shots are important when deciding whereabouts to film our trailer.
Tuesday, 12 October 2010
'Obsessed'
Our ideas are now coming together and soon we will be taking shots of our chosen characters, location shots, doing a written description on them and planning our script.
While our plans are progressing I still want to broaden my knowledge on our chosen my genre. I just watched the film 'Obsessed' and looked at conventions, including the conventions of the characters. The film relates to our story line very well therefore it is a good film to research, similar to 'Fatal Attraction' a women becomes romantically obsessed with a man who is a husband as well as a father. The male is a successful business man which is the same in both films. This made me think that power and status has something to do with why the females become romantically obsessed. In our film, a girl (Charlotte) becomes obsessed with a pretty popular girl (Summer), she doesn't have high status because of her work but because she is popular, therefore has a high social status.
Researching films such as these gives me not only inspiration but helps me look at conventions. It also gives me a better insight to how to portray characters our own film by looking at the camera work, how the characters are shown and conventions of our genre - a psychological thriller.
While our plans are progressing I still want to broaden my knowledge on our chosen my genre. I just watched the film 'Obsessed' and looked at conventions, including the conventions of the characters. The film relates to our story line very well therefore it is a good film to research, similar to 'Fatal Attraction' a women becomes romantically obsessed with a man who is a husband as well as a father. The male is a successful business man which is the same in both films. This made me think that power and status has something to do with why the females become romantically obsessed. In our film, a girl (Charlotte) becomes obsessed with a pretty popular girl (Summer), she doesn't have high status because of her work but because she is popular, therefore has a high social status.
Researching films such as these gives me not only inspiration but helps me look at conventions. It also gives me a better insight to how to portray characters our own film by looking at the camera work, how the characters are shown and conventions of our genre - a psychological thriller.
Monday, 11 October 2010
Storyboard
We have taken all of our research and development ideas - put them together and created a final storyboard. We have sketched out some potential shots of the characters and added some description.
The Story as it stands...
* Fade in from black. Establishing shot of the classroom with voice over of Charlotte and office lady. The classroom door opens. Summer is there with a group of friends.
* Teacher asking summer to keep an eye on Charlotte and help her out.
* Summer is kind and friendly towards Charlotte and convinces her friends not to make fun of her further.
* (Two Shot) Summer speaks to Charlotte about her past and why she's moved. Charlotte doesn't reveal much.
* A Mid-shot of Charlotte looking in the mirror fixing a wig to her head, exactly like Summers hair. She looks sinister as it zooms in. A voice over of Summer's boyfriend ''The girl is kinda weird'' ''Shes not that bad'', while this is happening.
* Charlotte starts being obsessive with Summer, following her everywhere. A reverse shot of Charlotte outside Summer's bedroom window is shown. Music intensifies.
* Another shot of Charlotte outside Summers house is shown. A conversation with Summer and her mum, Summer trying to explain to her that Charlotte is acting weird and obsessive, but she is reluctant to listen.
* Charlotte acts jealous whenever Summer is with anyone else. Summer avoids her and this infuriates her even more.
* Charlotte drugs summers boyfriend and takes pictures of them together on the same bed.
* Cuts begin to quicken, the audience is unaware of what going to happen/happening. A shot of Charlotte crying hysterically with Slashed wrists is shown.
* Another quick cut of Summer crying in a dark room 'Why are you doing this?' 'Because I love you'. - this hasn't given too much away. How did she get there? What does she know? are some questions the audience might be thinking. Music is quick and creating tension.
* Another quick cut of summer screaming trying to get away, while she is being dragged back.
* The last shot is of Summer's boyfriend laying down on a bed, opening his eyes. Then, as if from nowhere Charlotte's crazed face appears and goes to stab/strangle him. Music stops and the title of the film appears. The audience does not see the resolution and does not see if he dies or not. Fades out to black.
THE ROOMATE - Official Trailer
Our Synopsis
We have decided to go with the idea of the psychotic character taking an interest in a particular girl at school. This has been inspired by a range of films we have researched. The Roommate, Fatal Attraction, Single White Female and One hour Photo.
The trailer will begin with an establishing shot of the popular girl, Summer, in a classroom laughing with all her friends and boyfriend. This would be aligned with a voiceover of the new girl, Charlotte. A voiceover would consist of one of the characters at any time during the film, providing insight into who they are and what they think. Charlotte then is seen at the office coming in as a new girl at the school, so the audience see the contrast between the confidence in the two characters.
It then cuts to a teacher talking to Summer saying something along the lines of 'There is a new girl coming to the school and she needs someone who knows the school well to show her around' Reluctantly, Summer agrees as she is scared it will ruin her reputation. Surprisingly, Charlotte is actually alright, with slight hints of social unawareness here and there. Charlotte starts impersonating Summer by wearing similar make up and buying a red wig in private. Reverse shots are used here in the mirror. Summer's boyfriend, Chris, is reluctant to welcome Charlotte as she seems odd to him. Summer reassures him that she is a friendly person even if she is a bit weird, so he has to be nice to her. He agrees until, she makes a move on him and he rejects her so she drugs him and takes photos of the two of them when she is impersonating Summer. In the trailer Charlotte goes to kill Chris but there isn't a resolution so not too much is being given away at this point.
We will aim to build suspense while showing this throughout the trailer with effects such as music and slow fades to make it seem more building in tension.
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