Friday, 30 November 2012

27th November - Video progress vlog

Brief script for vlog

Within today's lesson and one of the previous lesson's I have been creating a descriptive blog on an influential director and screenwriter to us as a group being the highly successful Shane Meadow's. We have a lot of respect for him and some of his films, mainly of 'This Is England' but of also others including 'Dead Mans Shoe's' and Once Upon a Time In The Midland's'. I thought this would be helpful to us as a group to understand and to watch some of his films in more detail. We have now been able to relate some of our ideas to his and have been able to take notes on certain factors that have interested us. The key point we picked up on was the environment where certain films of his were shot, especially that of This Is England and the scene where Shaun and other members of the subcultures are featured within abandoned houses. We believe that this could be a possibility to film the drug raid in where the two members who have stolen the briefcase are. It will add to the urban feel and the gang life. But yeah, next lesson I am thinking about creating an audience profile to find out what sort of people would be interested in the film we are going to create or change according to our results. 



Thursday, 29 November 2012

27th November - Similar film director - Shane Meadow background




                                                                               



Shane Meadows 
Filmography

Shane Meadows is a successful, is an English film director, screenwriter, occasional actor and BAFTA winner. 


The two film posters either side show two of his most prestigious films, where for both of them they have been nominated and awarded, winning 21 awards and being nominated for a further 19. The majority of his films relate to petty crime, gang life, subcultures and are all set in a urban, rough environment. We take a lot of inspiration from him and look up to many of his films for ideas, props and his characterization of certain characters.

Obviously our film idea differs in some respects but after viewing several of Shane's films, are ideas may start to correspond to the extremely successful director to help us to achieve a similar, powerful response from his audience. A film is not just the screenplay, but is a corroboration from all different aspects to create a film like no other. Meadow's perfect understanding of how to create emotion for the audience through music, an original idea, a strong script linked with the acting involved. All of these points may not be completely Shane Meadow's idea but he has at least had an impact for all of these to come together so smoothly and under his supervision, creating a quality collection of his films. A key example of this would be how 'Dead Man's Shoes' and how it received such a high rating from IMDB 'the world's most popular and authoritative source for movie, TV and celebrity content.'.

Within the 'Top 5000' films and also rated '7.7/10'.
This Is England

I thought I would do a vague write up of one of Shane's most established films created. This film follows a young boy brought up in a society where subcultures dominates society and the boy becomes closely linked with a gang of skinheads. This film is based within the 1980's where these subcultures were at their most influential and it shows racism, crime and gang life at its best. Ideas have been stripped from this, especially the environment where it is set, within the North of England and the urban lifestyle featured. The deserted houses also adds to this production which is introduced within some scenes and helps to further this urban lifestyle. 


Chernobyl disaster abandoned houses - IDEA 

Thursday, 22 November 2012

21st November - Script for film

In today's lesson I thought I would start to get us more on track with actually beginning to film so the best way forward would be to create a basic outline for our script and then from there, we can decide what and what not to use in our final production. As the sub-heading states this 'Prezi' shows a 'Rough draft of (the) script' and the majority will most likely be wrought due to changing circumstances and what feels correct at the time to implement into our film. I have taken a few screen shots to take you through the process:

Broad view of whole 'Prezi' created.


This picture is just to show what overall product I have created rather than later on where I have actually posted the 'Prezi' presentation which will take you step by step through the script for the narrative.


'Path' on 'Prezi'.





Through the presentation I have made a 'Path' for the 'Prezi' to follow. This is to show my fellow group members how our overall ideas have come together and then we can act on this. This screen shot shows how to add anything to 'your path'.









Broad view of whole 'Path' on 'Prezi' created.


This shows a broader final product of the 'path' I created. It takes the user through by numbers so every time you click it creates a new screen shot with that number and moves to the left of the screen. From 1-10 of this particular 'Prezi' is the 'path' it will follow.


'Prezi' - First shot in presentation mode.

Final presentation of my 'Prezi'.

Tuesday, 20 November 2012

20th November - ANIMATIC COMPLETED.


                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        


16th November - Media lesson - Second animatic part COMPLETED.

Script for Part 2!

Shot one starts with a 0.5 second duration of darkness and then it continues onto the next shot with a quick cut. This following shot follows on the from the last shot of part 1 and continues with a pan of the seam of the briefcase. This will pivot horizontally for a slow short period of time so the viewer can understand the setting and can establish the scene.

The next shot will be of the lock of the briefcase flicking open which follows onto the next shot being that of medium shot but links to a over the shoulder shot due to the briefcase acting almost as a character where you can see the majority of the briefcase but only a small part of the person. This creates an enigma for the viewer whereby they are unable to see what is featured within the briefcase so what to follow from this shot is unexpected.

Shot 6 is a reaction shot of what the character has just spotted within the briefcase and then the character shuts the briefcase and carries on a conversation with the other character featured. The contents of the briefcase is still hidden creating even more suspense for the viewer. This is also an over the shoulder shot featuring both characters in the shot and remaining within the 180 degree rule. The conversations with the characters continue with shot reverse shots between them so shot 6 is actually a selection of different shots.

Shot 8 is where the drama of the scene really starts to engage the viewer. It is a POV shot from the protagonist character and shows him viewing the door. The diagetic sound is increased with loud banging of the door with the characters being uncertain of who it is. But they expect it to be that of the gang members trying to receive their product back from these characters.

Then the following shot, shot 10, is the chase scene with the filming being that of a hand held camera. This will contain a series of quick cuts from different angles to create further suspense. The dialogue used will be furious and boisterous against the characters with the briefcase.

The following shot of this would be that of shot 12. This follows the other shots by being hand held, taking on a slight resemblance to that of "Cloverfield". But on this shot the characters will be running through the woods away from the antagonist character and other gang members.


The final project of the second part!!




Thursday, 15 November 2012

15th November - Media lesson - Fourth animatic part COMPLETED.

The shortest part of our animatic has been completed with the script and also editing of the clips and the voice recording of our voices have been implemented over the still pictures. These are a few screen shots of this part forming the animatic process:

This is a more focused screen shot on how this animatic has been shared to YouTube which is then shown below by the embedded video.
 
The final project of the fourth part!!
 

The script on blogger on a past post!
 
Part 4 

This shot shows a close up of one of the terrorists with an exchange of dialogue after the surprise of the gun shot. Some examples of dialogue that could be used includes “Find them and kill them”. A slight zoom will be introduced showing this characters anger. 

Shot 4 is when the bag is placed over the protagonists head. It will be a completely dark shot with the continuance of the confusion and shouting by the other characters mixed with some gunfire. This shot will continue for about 4 seconds from the protagonists perspective so a lot more diagetic sound of the heavy breathing and fear. Perhaps the attempt to move his head will also emphasise this.

Shot 6 will be a surprise for the viewer where the darkness of having the bag on for some period of time will be contrasted with a sharp bright light. This is to show the antagonists lack of light with the bag over the head and a perhaps a symbol to show he is safe. But what is the ending situation with the character? Is he killed by the terrorists? Or is he saved by this unfamiliar character? The enigma is for the viewers to decide. 

This may seem like a blur for the examinar but it is purely to help the group out so everyone in the group has an idea about progress made, additions to the shots and if there is any problems they will contact me.

Thursday, 8 November 2012

7th November - Media lesson - Third animatic part COMPLETED.

This is our final animatic for part 3 of our storyboards! Me and Ed have finished the script and then recorded our voices over the screen shots of part 3. After finishing this we used iMovie's editing software to successfully trim anything that needed editing including reading the script out incorrectly and so on. After this I publicly uploaded the video to Youtube and then embedded it into this blog.

I also took a few screenshots showing the process taken:



This screenshot shows the message received after uploading the Animatic - Part 3 to YouTube.









This is another screen shot taken that shows one of the shots of the storyboard that we scripted over and also shows some of the editing completed underneath. This shot was taken on iMovie while visiting certain shots to make sure they did not need editing for our final product.           v v v v v v
The final project of the third part!!


The script on blogger on a past post!





Wednesday, 7 November 2012

6th November - Vlog entry after half term


Script for video

This is our first lesson back from half term so this is the first time for us as a group to catch up on the progress that has been made through the holiday. After we understood our current situation, we got underway with filming the animatic for the other parts of the storyboard. Due to already creating the script for this it was a relatively fast process and part 3 of the animatic has just been finished and will be uploaded shortly. Me and Edward have done the same technique of taking it in turns with reading out our own parts of the script, making it fairer for both of us. And while we have been doing this, Oli has been viewing different films so he can take ideas on different shots for part 2. In his own time he will finish this so me and Ed can create the script for part 2 and completely finish our animatic which has become quite a long task. 

This script was changed when I was being videoed and I improvised adding different parts in. But this is the video blog and the script above is the general idea of what is being said:





Friday, 2 November 2012

Update from work completed over the holiday period.

I thought I would further my Media Studies A2 by spending my own time, rather than lesson time to try and complete some outstanding work so when we return, we will have passed the expectations of us and ultimately would complete our five minute film within a shorter time period. So the progress of how extra work was completed was due to me taking a picture on my phone of the different storyboards. Then sending these photos over email. And then having the photos on a larger scale so at home I had the chance to complete the scripts of the even numbers (as Ed is doing the odd numbers).

These are my results:


Part 3

Shot 1 starts off with a fade into shot two. Shot two is of the camera facing downwards at the protagonists feet. The camera will be a Point-Of-View-Shot and to make it more realistic we will make the camera blur when focusing on the legs. We may be able to do this while filming by moving the camera quickly or we will do it in the editing stage by adding effects. This will help show the confusion of the character and will help to put the viewer in the characters perspective.

Shot 4 and 6 also link to each other being an almost identical shot where the antagonist torturer is tapping out the ash of his cigarette. The repetition of this shot will emphasise the menacing atmosphere where the viewers will be left in suspense for the next shot to find out where the protagonist is, and his current situation. The camera will be featured at a low angle so when the character taps out some ash it will also help to show the characters freedom of movement and power, unlike the other character.

Shot 8 is a mid-shot of the antagonist, with the protagonist being featured behind. This broader shot will emphasise the antagonists authority over the protagonist whereby the protagonist has been reduced to a smaller size. There will be emphasis on the antagonist diagetic sound, may be by caressing the torture weapon because it will create a menacing sound and atmosphere for the audience.

Shot 10 is the antagonist walking towards the protagonist slowly with a very slight zoom showing more distinctly the protagonists fear. A tracking camera movement will follow the character very slowly with this zoom.

Shot 12 follows on from this and shows the impact of the torture weapon on the character that is tied up. A swift fast paced camera movement slices the characters face leaving blood on the wall which is then followed up by the next shot where the camera pans away and focuses on this blood that has been left on the wall. Then without any character in shot the viewer will hear the diagetic screams of the character who is being tortured.

Part 4

This shot shows a close up of one of the terrorists with an exchange of dialogue after the surprise of the gun shot. Some examples of dialogue that could be used includes “Find them and kill them”. A slight zoom will be introduced showing this characters anger.

Shot 4 is when the bag is placed over the protagonists head. It will be a completely dark shot with the continuance of the confusion and shouting by the other characters mixed with some gunfire. This shot will continue for about 4 seconds from the protagonists perspective so a lot more diagetic sound of the heavy breathing and fear. Perhaps the attempt to move his head will also emphasise this.

Shot 6 will be a surprise for the viewer where the darkness of having the bag on for some period of time will be contrasted with a sharp bright light. This is to show the antagonists lack of light with the bag over the head and a perhaps a symbol to show he is safe. But what is the ending situation with the character? Is he killed by the terrorists? Or is he saved by this unfamiliar character? The enigma is for the viewers to decide.

This may seem like a blur for the examinar but it is purely to help the group out so everyone in the group has an idea about progress made, additions to the shots and if there is any problems they will contact me.


Friday, 26 October 2012

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. 





Thursday, 25 October 2012

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!




Tuesday, 23 October 2012

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. 

Wednesday, 17 October 2012

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


Tuesday, 16 October 2012

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!

Friday, 12 October 2012

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.



Tuesday, 9 October 2012

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.