Ideas for our film

Initial Ideas for opening of our film

Mood Board

This is my mood board. I have included pictures of the forest that we are going to film in, Richmond park. I have included some deer because we decided to have the film quite calm at the beginning with the deer then we cut straight to the action where the girl is running, this could help to build tension as it is a juxtaposition. I put in some costume ideas including a hoodie and converse, but also with the costume we need to put some mud on the clothes to show the girl's struggle through the forest. In addition, we included the car and the crash and also a road to show where the girl is going to run. The crime scene tape is to show that our film is a crime/drama film and there will be an accident. Also I have used pictures of clouds and fog because we are hoping to pick a day to film that is going to be cloudy and foggy to add to the creepy feel of the film. 

Analysis of other G321 blogs 2

http://media.ksgs.cumbria.sch.uk/blog/wiilliamwilson-as1/

I really liked this person's use of screenshots when analysing clips of film and their openings. It makes his blog look tidy and neat and is also a good way to present parts of the opening. I use screenshots sometimes to show different parts of the clips that I am talking about but I might start to make a small collage of these pictures to make my blog look neat and more presentable.

Preliminary Task

 For my preliminary task, I worked with Ashleagh and Zoe. I filmed the task and I tried to get in as many techniques as possible, for example, 180 degree rule and shot reverse shot. Unfortunately, some scenes are quite jumpy when transitioning to the next but I now know that I need to work on that, also for my real opening I need to remember to film a lot of footage in order to have enough in case some isn't very good. I learnt a lot from my Preliminary task that I can now use when making my real opening.

Diary Post- Preliminary Editing

Today in class, we tried to edit our preliminary task. We used iMovie to edit all of our clips that we filmed of Ashleagh and Zoe. We tried out different techniques like splitting clips and moving the clips together. Unfortunatley, we discovered that we hadn't filmed enough footage in order for the clip to flow smoothly. This made us realise that we have to film lots of footage in order for the movie to look good in the end, this mistake will help us when we come to doing our end film.

However, we tried to carry on with what we had and we also got some music to put in the background when Ashleagh was walking down the corridor and opening the door.

In order to improve, next time we should film more and also make a better ending to our film because it stops quite abruptly. Apart from that I think our camera angles when the conversation is taking place were good!

Analysis of other blogs!

http://georgihonnorasmedia.blogspot.co.uk

I found this G321 blog that I thought was very well presented. Instead of just using text to talk about her tasks, the student used lots of different media to keep her blog looking great and more helpful to read. She used SlideShare, Prezi and also filmed videos to answer questions about her preliminary tasks and evaluation. I think that this is a good blog because it is easy to understand and read. The student put a lot of detail into planning the props, cast and setting of her final film and this makes for a better and more organised final film. 

The student also includes if they had changed ideas and for what reasons. This shows that they are flexible with their ideas and also that they want to make sure that their film is exactly how they want it.

From looking at this blog, I have decided that instead of having chunks of text that could be quite boring to read, I am going to have videos, pictures and various types of media to make my blog look interesting.

Diary Post- Preliminary Task

In today's lesson, we had a go at filming our preliminary tasks! Before filming we found out what the terms match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180 degree rule. We then went to film the preliminary task. 

The first thing we filmed was Ashleagh walking towards a door and then opening the door. In order to include match on action in our task we filmed Ashleagh opening the door from the outside and then closing it from the inside to make it flow smoothly. 

We also filmed Ashleagh and Zoe having a basic conversation. I was filming using the shot reverse shot technique when filming Ashleagh and Zoe's conversation and I used an over the shoulder shot to show the two conversing. I also tried to follow the 180 degree rule. 

I think we done quite a good job filming our first piece of video. Today I learnt that you may have to film the same scene over and over again to get it just the way you want it but in the end it will look good and better than if you just filmed it once. 

Shot reverse shot and 180 degree rule

Shot reverse shot

Shot reverse shot is the filming technique where there is a shot of one person talking to another and then a shot of the other person replying. This shows the conversation flowing smoothly and so we can see both of the characters point of view.

180 degree rule

The 180 degree rule is where the camera only films from one side of the characters in an 180 degree zone. It makes sure the viewer does not get disorientated and the conversation can flow more smoothly and make more sense.

Film and Opening treatment

Class Feedback on Initial Ideas

When sharing the initial idea for our film with the class, we received some constructive criticism and things we may need to think about for our final film.

• First of all we need to choose whether what time of day we are going to do it and if we will be able to fit all of the filming onto one day. We decided that we want to do it on a cloudy day, so that it is dark and adds to the drama and suspense feel of the film. 
• We will also need to research more action/drama films to try and get some techniques for creating tension. 
• In addition, we need to think of some different camera angles and pauses, so that it is not just 2 minutes of someone running through a forest. We may think about included small hints to why the person is running. 

Overall, the feedback was positive, as the idea of the enigma seemed interesting and gripping. 

Match on Action- Film making research

Match on Action is when the film editor cuts from one shot to another and connects them together. 

The shots are taken from different angles though the scene may be the same. This gives the impression that the scene is continuing through, though one shot may be filmed hours or days after. 

However, if they are filmed a long time after, they must make sure everything on set stays the same. The cut is smooth and effective so that the viewer’s attention is not on the cut. 

The actors sometimes have to repeat their actions several times in order to capture it from several angles.

When we make our final film we must remember to use match on action because it makes the film look more professional and we want it to look like a real film. This also makes the shots flow more smoothly and it means we can include lots of different angles of one shot. This will be very useful because our film is a thriller so we need fast cutting shots to flow smoothly.

Here is an example of Match on Action:

Generic Conventions of a Thriller research

In order to fit with these conventions our first 2 minutes need to keep the audience captivated and we can do this by using the right music and quick pace shots. We are going to use a flashback scene so this will keep the audience wondering and they will also wonder why the girl is running through the forest in the first place. 

Although we can't have dark lighting because we don't have the equipment real films have (lights etc) we will try to find a day where the sky is cloudy and grey to create the more dim lighting without being too dark and so we can still see the actor. 

We are planning to have quick cut shots especially between the girl running and the car driving and these shots will become faster and faster as the opening goes on. This will create suspense as the audience will wonder what is going to happen next. We are also going to have lots of different shots, including shots on the floor, behind trees and looking up into the trees etc, this will help the disorientation of the film and scenes.

We are going to use tense music, and diegetic sounds of heavy breathing and perhaps screaming of the main character. The music we are going to choose has to progressively get louder as the opening goes on. 

However through out this we must remember to follow the 180 degree rule as well as using match on action and shot reverse shot which will probably be most prominent in the flashback scene.

Audience Research

Taken's target audience is mostly 15-24 year olds, however it is also quite popular with older demographics. The gender who saw the film most was male and this may be because there is more action and violence, which generally appeals to the male population. On the other hand, there is also a lot of females that saw the film which means that the film also appears to females too, this could be because of the story line as females usually become emotionally invested with story lines.

Similarly to Taken, Taken 2 also had slightly more of a male audience than female though the percentage has increased a bit. The age percentage is predominantly ages 15-24 which shows that for our film we should aim it at these age groups as these are the people that enjoy the genre and also going to the cinema. There were less in the 35-44 age group, so for our film that will not be the target audience.

 The Hunger Games is a different genre to our film but some of the setting we want to use for our film is in The Hunger Games. The gender percentages are very similar but there are more males which could show that overall action is more popular with males. Like the other films, the age range of 15-24, which further shows that this is the main target audience for film makers.

Ransom is similar to taken and with gender the percentages are about the same as taken, with more males that females. However, the ages are different as there it is close between 15-24 and 25-34. This could show that for action films the range for age is 15-34 which suggests that it is a genre widely enjoyed by many people.

Overall, looking at the percentages for these films, that relate to our film, we can begin to see who are target audience will be, predominantly males aged 15-24. This will help us when we make our film to see what we should include to entice this type of audience.

Diary Post 3 - Audience Research

Last lesson, we looked at audience research and who our target audience will be. I went on the Pearl & Dean website and looked for some films that will be similar to ours, I looked for Taken, because we are going to use that film as inspiration. I also looked for films similar to Taken and I found Ransom and Taken 2. I also used The Hunger Games even though it is a different genre to our film it has similar scenes like running through forests. I learnt a lot about which audience we could target for our film. We should target males between the ages of 15-24.