26th October - Media lesson

This is my last lesson before we leave for a break of one week during the half term! I will be posting during the holidays but I can do very little in terms with the animatic etc. due to not owning a mac at home! So are group as a whole have all assigned certain tasks so when we are back from the holidays we can get straight back in with the blog and our film! The assigned tasks are as followed:

- Oli - Finish part two of the storyboards due to having our first idea being changed.

- Ed - Write a script for odd numbers on the different shots of the storyboard so we can finish are animatic when we get back.

- Me - Write a script for even numbers on the different shots of the storyboard.

Our organisation skills will be a real advantage to us when we have to complete our five minute film because we will have less to focus. Me and Ed have both used our phones to take pictures of the different storyboards parts and we currently both use the Blogger iPhone app so we can upload work straight away. 

25th October - Media lesson - First animatic part COMPLETED.

Furthering our work on the animatic we have successfully completed the first part! The completion of this involves both finishing the script, then reading it out while being recorded and then editing this over the images on iMovie. This is quite a time consuming task but the end result is a real achievement. We will post them all up together to show the animatic as a whole, but for the time being this is just the first part! ENJOY!

These are the pictures of the editing of the animatic on iMovie:

This is the overall picture of iMovie and the editing software we used to clip the recordings to the desired times.

 This picture shows this more clearly with a closer shot of the different recordings. We had a different recording for every shot because me and Ed took it in turns to speak over it so it was easier and less time consuming to edit. So all we needed to edit was mistakes when reading from the script and when increasing the time limit for how long the shots go on for. 

This is a larger shot of the top right hand corner of iMovie and shows what the final product will look like.

The final project of the first part!!

The script on word!

23rd October - Media lesson

In today's lesson we put the animatic on hold so we could meet demands by creating some of our film work. We could only film shots that did not have people present due to still missing Oli from our group. Nonetheless we filmed all we could that did not have people involved so shots of the setting and other shots including the pan of the wall, the lighting and some of the torture scene. Some shots we have created without the storyboard and we will make new additions to the animatic to show this.

Some preview shots of our anticipated film to come:

 This is filming through the sack with the blurred outline of the terrorist characters.

Just a shot of a piece of machinery used for the torture scene. This creates an element of fear for the audience seeing how machinery and technological equipment is used for torturing. 

18th October - Video blog of today's lesson.

15th October - Today's lesson

In today's lesson, it was only me and Ed because Ollie is away. This will be the same situation for the next few lessons because he is on a school trip. Nonetheless we worked extremely hard, with me personally making additions to the pitch which was created when I was not in media studies at the start of the year which I have published to my blog. I also made the path of the Prezi so when it is plays on the blog it will take the viewer through a determined path which makes everything clearer and more interesting. We have also started the first part of the animatic, by taking pictures of every scene and starting to write out the script. I will post more about this next lesson! 

Example of first shot from animatic: 

Our new idea.

This post is just really for my personal use. But we have thought of a great and unique idea to do an alternative ending to our story, so I do not want to forget the idea! This is different and we want to be seen as very ambitious and put a lot of effort into creating a more exciting and interesting viewing experience for the viewer. It will give the viewer two possibilities to choose from... one with a good ending where the protagonist comes out alive. Or in contrast, an ending where the protagonist is killed. Well that is all we know at the moment and we just came out with the idea very quickly with no basis upon it. It is still in working progress and hopefully this can turn out to be a great idea!

17th October - Pitch with new additions

Film Ideas on Prezi

15th October - What we did today.

In today's lesson I started doing the animatic for our storyboards. They are also in working progress so I cannot finish all of them in today's lesson, but I can at least do Part 1! 

This is Ollie working on the storyboards:

This is a picture of the whole storyboard of Part 1:

This, inverted picture is our storyboard for our first part. In today's lesson I started doing the animatic for this, I will upload a post within the next lesson of my progress!

12th October - Locations for scenes.

In today's lesson, we decided upon our films locations. This sets our setting and gives us a rough idea on what we were basing our storyboard on. Here are our results:

Location - Scene 1 - Terrorist scene.

Location - Scene 2 - Drug taking scene.

Location - Scene 2 - Running from terrorists.

Location - Scene 2 - Chased into forest and knocked out.

Location - Scene 3 - Torture scene and then run into terrorist scene i.e Scene 1.

15th October - Other similar films.

All three members of our group, including me, decided to view other films that we personally think, link to our current idea. So each member of the group has been assigned a certain film to analyse and this is what we have created in today's lesson:

Ollie - Iron Man - Terrorist Scene
Ed - Reservoir Dogs - Torture Scene
Me - Taken - Taken and torture scene.

Taken

A breakdown of the video.

This scene from Taken shows how the daughter is taken by the traffickers. While she is under the bed is the most likely part that will link to our film, the fear when she is taken and the screams when she is taken out of the room. Obviously our film will not be used in the same context, but they link due to our character and the actor of Taken our effectively... taken. The darkness and shadows featured when under the bed and also the foreign accent used will also be used in our film. 

                                                                         This shot is taken from that of the bad quality video, But this is the character under the bed and the fear shown by the actor. The claustrophobic nature of being confined under a bed without being able to freely move helps create the tension in the scene and also the link of the emotional aspect of the character, and unusual foreign accents which stereotypically would be associated with terrorists or just of that of unfamiliar people. 

This video of the torture scene whereby the facial expressions, and acting quality is of great importance to create a realistic experience for the viewer. The environment with the mise en scene is also highly important being that of a dark and gloomy atmosphere created by the lack of light. The use of a hand held fast paced blurred camera makes us see the action from the POV of the tortured person in this scene which helps us to create a closer bond with the characters on set. This use of the POV camera will be used for part of our film, viewing the terrorists from the POV of the protagonist character.

9th October - Basic idea of our film.

Film idea

First scene

The first scene starts off with a terrorist situation. Then the audience is drawn straight in with an enigma where they do not understand how the protagonist has got into this situation. The terrorists create a ransom video of the person tied up. And then it flashes back to how this situation has occurred in the first place.

Setting - First scene 

At school, downstairs in the Manor building. It is a very rustic, urban and isolated so creates a perfect setting for a terrorist scene. There is also a lack of light which could be used to our advantage.

Second scene

The flash back from the first scenes continues to how the person got into the situation in the first place. The storyline of this would be there is some drug deal, that has gone wrong and then the protagonist in question is then hit over the head after running through a forest to get away and then it fades to the next scene.

Setting - Second scene

Around the desolate and narrow parts of the school, like the back alleys. But also featured in the forest when the protagonist is trying to get away.

Third scene 

The fade from the second scene then continues, but it continues from before the first scene. So the torturing of the protagonist before the ransom video is made and then it slowly flows back into the first scene again. This then continues until the camera is placed with a sack over it, so being seen from a POV of the protagonist and then the terrorists get shot by an unknown character who can not be seen through the camera, just a shadow. And then the protagonists passes out and then the film fades out.

Setting - Third scene

At school, downstairs in the Manor building. It is a very rustic, urban and isolated so creates a perfect setting for a terrorist scene. There is also a lack of light which could be used to our advantage.

4th October - Discuss.

Today as a group, we added ideas to what our final film should be. It's very difficult and notes have been made but little has been achieved. We need to create an idea that is actually accomplishable, rather than ideas that with what we have, will be an impossible task. At the moment, an idea that is capturing the whole group is a hostage situation, including flashbacks to how the situation has occurred. But every time we think of an idea, we always seem to go off on a tangent towards another idea which also has the potential to be a great film. The next lesson, we really need to set out a basis for what we want to create, and then from there we can create a spider diagram to ideas linking with this. So examples for a hostage situation would be:

Guns

Balaclava

Shadows

Darkness and a lack of light

Blood and torture

Tension

Heavy diegetic sound (breathing etc.)

 

We have the ideas, now all we need is to further this by making organised, structured notes.

 

 

3rd October - Short Film Research

Due to joining the course later than my other classmates, I am slightly behind on certain parts of the course, so this is my attempt to catch up. I have been introduced to a site called “Vimeo” - http://vimeo.com/, which is a site which includes many different videos. So I have been browsing certain short films on there, matching our film limit of five minutes. Some of them are incredible, and due to having a very broad idea of what to base our film on, I can freely view many different types of short films, of all different genres. Some that have caught my eye include:

http://vimeo.com/18486821

Why not go for a romance?
From a change of last years thriller film would be for a romance film. The options are endless so why not! This short film has some real potential and its sitcom like structure with its transitional wipes adds to this. I have also taken the idea of its flashbacks which occur throughout the short film which could be used in our groups short film and also its quick wipes onto other scenes making time go faster through the short film, which is obviously of high importance due to the maximum time limit of 5:00 minutes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4jY8WxcFMo

Why not stick with what we know?

If we create another thriller film then we already have the basic ideas to create a great film, learning from last year and being able to improve on this. I have been searching trailers from films that have been created and I believe this is how we should create our film. A trailer leaves the audience on a cliffhanger on what to expect next, and so they have to watch the film. This could also be the start of a sequel which we could also use to our advantage because we could create it ending with a cliffhanger. Due to our five minutes maximum time period, maybe this would be the best idea to fit in everything we need to in a short period of time, and also to leave the audience in suspense with a cliffhanger. This clip is a trailer of 007 Quantum Of Solace and has thriller aspects and also leaves the audience on a cliffhanger. It does not show the whole film, and obviously we would include less effects and more information. But this shows a basis of how direct our film has to be without being a trailer.