S.T- Random ideas

We have been thinking of some extra shots that we could put into our production. One such is a few extra people being taken before the main character does. This would help extend the time and make it more interesting.

• One would be a skateboarder, because we could do an interesting shot with the skateboard.


• We also thought of a minor car incident with a lamppost or fence could be cool.


• Another one we thought about was a young child being taken too, because the audience would feel sympathetic towards a really innocent person being taken for not a clear reason.


• Maybe we could have a dissappearing cat too? y'never know....

S.T- Weekend shoot feedback

On 26th march 2011, we tried to film as much of our final piece as possible, however we could not film in our desired location because a van was parked in the way. We tried shooting at the other end of the road instead, but cars kept coming past and we had to reshoot alot. This location was also not as good as the one we wanted, and so we couldn't get as good shots as we had practised. When we put together the footage we did get, we decided it wasn't very good and so we are going to reshoot everything this weekend.

Progress Update

Chris,Sam. Well done you two, you are working very hard to keep up with the tasks, considering that there is only two of you, this is an excellent blog. Chris, you are doing a great job as blog director and are nearly up to date with the tasks. I am impressed with the way you two get on with things in a business like way.

CR- Update post

1. We need to upload pictures onto our costume and props post. 
2. We need to finish shooting this weekend as the deadline draws near and effects need doing 
3. We need to comment more on posts 
4. We need to try and test different editing techniques

CR- Example of negative effect

This video contains a negative effect that would be perfect in our film opening, Here are some examples that I liked.

Group- Animatic

The animatic was designed to provide a shot guide and some idea of shot duration, overall this is very usful but  some shots may be added at the shoot because some shots may work and others may not and need to be replaced. We learnt about the different camera angles/ shots we could use, and the timing of our shots and helped us plan further shoots

S.T- Costumes and props

Costumes: For our main character and his friends, their costumers will be quite simple- Jeans or tracksuit trousers, t-shirt, and a jumper or hoodie. Fo footwear, they will most likely wear trainers. These costume pieces portray the older teens that they are supposed to be, and because they are all wearing these things it shows them to be equal.


For the antagonist(s) they will be wearing something like a long coat, maybe gloves, probably smarter trousers, and maybe a smarter shirt, but could also just wear a long-sleeved t-shirt.

Props: So far, the only prop we have is a mobile phone for the main character when he has to leave the group. We will use the phone of the actor playing the main character. One of the victims will have a cuddly toy tiger. Another of the victims and his friend will be using skateboards and a skateboarding ramp and a grind rail.

S.T- Plan for this weekend's filming

This weekend, we plan to film the whole of our opening sequence, but this tim ewith all of the actors required. We will also try out a few more shots to make it even more interesting. It will probably take longer than last week though because we are having to co-ordinate 5 or 6 people instead of last weekend's 1 person.

S.T- Todays stuff to do

1: Upload the animatic to the blog, once the editing on it has been done.

2: Progress update and what we plan to do in the next shoot.

3: Costumes and props post- what they're going to be and why we are using them.

S.T- Feedback on latest shoot

1: We shot in Keyes Gardens, South Tonbridge, on friday 18th march and saturday 19th march 2011. The location was right next to my house, so I didn't need to go far. Brad was the only other person who came, and he travelled by foot.

2: We managed to shoot the whole opening with just Brad acting, and we also shot a lot more than what is on our storyboard, which was a good thing. We filmed some good high and low angle shots, and the walking shots went well too.

3: The storyboard was rather important, lathough we did deviate from it alot to add more interesting shots in. We did keep to the basic storyline of the storyboard though.

4: Hopefully, we will be able to shoot the full opening the next weekend coming up with all the actors needed.

S.T- Update and progress 18/3

1: Completed most of the tasks from yesterday's post, however I wasn't able to put a link on my technical analysis because the video cannot be embedded and the links would not work.

2: The animatic is being filmed today by Chris.

3: I will be taking the camera out again to film, although we will not be able to do it properly due to Chris not being able to make it.

S.T- Blog update

1: The storyboard has been drawn and uploaded, but more of an explanation needs to be added.

2: The feedback on the pitch needs to be moved to the pitch post.

3: Explain about what the preliminary task was supposed to achieve- Short conversation, continuity editing, 180 degree rule.

4: Call sheet and risk assessment from wilderness woods need to be put up.

5: Comment on the mood board.

6: Link to the video used in the technical analysis.

7: Titles need to be added to 1 february post, or take off subheading from that post.

8: Highlight key words used in tasks.

9: Comment on 25th january post.

10: Fix broken links on various entries.

CR-Questionnaire used for audience research

This is the questionnaire we issued to a group of ten people in order to find how they and their sample background respectively would receive our film opening ideas.

AS Media Production Questionnaire

The purpose of this questionnaire is to gather target audience reactions towards the concepts we have developed for our film opening. (2 mins) All feedback will be used constructively in order to improve our concepts to meet your expectations of the typical thriller genre.

Gender:…………………………….

Age:…………………………………

1. What film genre do you prefer (please rank accordingly 1 being the best)

□    Horror

□    Thriller

□    Action

□    Animation

□    Comedy

□    Sci-Fi

□    Rom-Com

□    Family

     

2.      What characteristics do you believe the lead character should possess. (please tick appropriately)

□  Male

□  Female

□  Young

□  Middle-Aged

□  Old

□  White

□  Ethnic Minority

3.      Does the narrative capture your attention (please explain)

…........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

4.      What sort of music would you associate with the thriller genre (please tick the ones you think are the most appropriate)

□  Rock

□  Pop

□  Classic

□  Synth

□  Other

5.      If other what is? (please specify)

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

6.      What type of lighting do you think is most appropriate for the thriller genre (please circle appropriately)

Dark/Dull 1 2 3 4 5 Bright

7.      What location is most appropriate in the thriller genre (please tick appropriately)

□  Urban

□  Rural

□  Suburb

□  City

8.      Describe the type of costume that is worn by the majority of protagonists featured in the thriller genre (please explain)

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

9.      What do you think of the film typography we are considering using? (please specify)

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

10.  Do  you have any additional comments to make about our film opening

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

CR-Methodology and Results evaluation

Our research method involved us creating a presentation highlighting the key ideas we planned to use in our opening sequence, we then sent this via e-mail to ten teenagers the majority of which were male. The purpose of our research was to gather general feedback from members of the target audience over what we plan to do. The recipitants then sent their results back to us where we converted results into graphs and generalised comments.

We used a variety of different question structures including open questions, closed questions, scaled questions and ranked questions so that we could acheive a greater variety of data.

However the method of our research is flawed in a number of ways with us not able to explain our ideas properly, and the inability to check the honesty or sincerity of  our sample. With the majority of the sample being teenage boys the results may be gender bias as well as age bias.

 This graph shows the samples ideal setting for the film opening

 This graph shows the samples decision over what music should be used in the film opening









This graph shows the samples ideal perception of       the protagonist in a thriller film.                  

S.T- Storyboard

We have created a storyboard to help us see what each shot of our opening sequence might look like. Each frame in the storyboard shows he shot used, as well as a small explaination underneath to say what is happening.

 This is an example of a storyboard for our opening
                                                                                  sequence.

S.T- Pitch for film opening

This is the pitch for our plans for the film opening final task, which includes the basic storyline, audience research, the location we will use, and some other ideas that could be used.

Group 1 Media Studies: Film opening Pitch on Prezi

In response to the pitch, there has been some feedback regarding the use of positive/ negative zones being confused, there was also some questions over the type of music we will use in our film but we have resolved the issue by using synthetic sound. We have used a questionnaire sent to ten people around 16-18 boys towards the lower end of our target audience.

S.T- Stuff to do on Blog

1: Audience research needs to be uploaded, including graphs of results, comments, and a scan of the questionnaire. Methodology of how it was carried out should be added aswell.

2: Scan of the risk assessment and call sheet of the Wilderness Woods location reccie.

3: Storyboarding, need to both draw and write out what we could possibly film.

S.T- Location Reccie: South Tonbridge

For our own location reccie, I went around a few alleys and streets near my house in South Tonbridge on the 26th of February 2011. Whilst going around the streets, I took some photos of some potential camera positions for shots.

Some of the better shots I took were looking straight down the alley or road because no-one was around to be in the shots by accident and the alleys were quite enclosed without being too intimidating or dark.

Group- Preliminary Task

For the preliminary task we were to show examples of continuity editing, which should include a variety of different distances, angles and cutting methods. We were also asked to include the 180’ rule and two lines of dialogue and a shot of a door opening.

We came up with a vague concept which we melded with the requirements of the brief, upon post- production we decided to add a lens flare to create a more sinister approach to Samuel’s character. With further cutting we realised that we required some more shots. We used panning shots, close ups high angle shots and various point of view shots. We also introduced end credits into our task.

Overall our production went really well with special effects and soundtrack receiving a positive response, the credits finished the production really well. However our cutting techniques still need some improvement, they need to be sharper and more ruthless.