Titles Draft

Final Edit Draft

This draft is not finished and also there are added seconds on the end where the screen goes black. This wont happen in my final edit as we will edit it out as well as adding in more footage.

Update

Filming

Today Millie and I started our filming for our final piece.  Our actors both came into college wearing the costumes we required, so filming stated from there.  The first shots we filmed were of George walking off the bridge and towards the field.  There was light rain so we used a waterproof cover to go over the camera to ensure nothing got damaged.  The rain didn't last long at all.  We then got different shots of George walking onto the field from different angles.  We did this as we believed it would give a better effect in the final edit and thought we could jump from angle to angle.  We then continued to film.  We took shots of George leading Amy onto the field and did quite a few of these from different angels to again enhance the overall look of the shot.  We re did these a few times as sometimes the actors laughed or it just didn't look right.  We then relocated and filmed some shots outside of our sixth form block which were very successful.

Here are images of George and Amy on the first day of filming.  They are both wearing the costumes we required. 

Both characters on the field on which we filmed.

Here you can see Millie and I previewing some of the shots we have just filmed.  

 In order to get the right angle for some of the shots, I assisted Millie by supporting the camera on my foot.  We did this because the tripod wouldn't get low enough for the shot we required and we didn't want the shot to shake.

Evidence of me using the tripod whilst filming George walking onto the field.

Image of me holding the equipment we used this day.  This included the tripod and camera.

Plot

The final idea Millie and I came up with was this.  A male character, in his late teens, grows an obsession with hair.  He is utterly obsessed and addicted to the smell, texture and look of it and does anything to get his hands on as much of it as he possibly can.  In our opening scene we want to capture the character's sheer obsession with hair and display him in different situations obsessing over it.  As we are only creating an opening scene we didn't want to put in too much detail and 'give too much away'.

Risk Assessment

Filming Schedule

Millie and I filmed the majority of our final piece in our free period on a Thursday, period 3.  We discovered this was the best time for us to film as not only Millie and I but also Amy, George and other actresses were available at this time.


10/12/15- First day of filming

On this day Millie and I plan on filming the majority of the outdoors filming.  This will include shots of all the characters involved in the final product.  We chose to film during period 3 not only for the ease but also because the lighting outside at this time of day is exactly what was needed.






14/01/16- Second day of filming

On this day Millie and I plan on filming the shots in the resistant materials workshop.  We have already checked with the head of technology to ensure the room is free, which it is.  The room in which we have planned to film these shots in have huge windows around the perimeter of the workshop meaning the lighting will be acceptable for filming.

Audience Research/Questionnaire

I created my questionnaire using Survey Monkey.  Survey Monkey is an online program where I was able to create my own survey and send it out to an amount of people who then completed my questionnaire and sent it back.  I got 20 replies from people which I sent the questionnaire to to fill out.  My results are represented in graph forms below:

Q1

 Q2

 Q3

 Q4

 Q5

 Q6

 Q7

 Q8

A blank copy of my survey can be seen here. 

Storyboard

This is a brief storyboard created by Millie and I, displaying our first ideas for our opening scene. 

Free Period Work

Today I had free periods all afternoon so I got some of my blog done.  I completed two Prezi presentations.  One was character profiles for the people participating in my video and another was of the narrative of my opening scene.  Prezi presentations are really interesting ways in which I can display basic information.  I also completed a blog post on the props I will be using throughout the construction of my opening scene, I added images to this.

Millie and I also had a discussion about our opening scene and its narrative.  As until this point our ideas had been rather brief, we verbally brainstormed and came up with a more detailed narrative.  This is what I blogged today.

I also completed a post on the costumes the characters will be wearing.  I displayed this by finding similar garments on the online store ASOS and inserted images and descriptions into a blog post.

Actors

Costume

Male Character-  Long black trench coat, jumper and jeans.

All black costume to appear shady and mysterious.

Female Charcters-  Typical girly clothing to appear as innocent.

All the female characters will have their hair down so that it will blow in the wind.  This will draw attention to the girls hair, which is what I want as the film is based on an obsession with hair.

Props

Not  many props will be used in my piece as the narrative is purposefully simplistic and quite empty.

Hair extentions-  These will be used to act as the hair cut off by the main character.  This is due to ethical issues of not being able to actually cut off people's hair just for the purpose of the video.



Tools-  The tools are going to be used in my opening scene to insert harrowing clips which create drama.




Scissors-  These will be used to make the illusion that the hair is actually being cut off.

The Narrative

Analysis of Past Work- Low Grade

Ring Of Trees- E Grade Example

Weaknesses-

Costume- The costumes used in this final piece are poor.  The 'characters' are dressed in their normal attire and this weakens the overall look of the opening scene.  Having the 'characters' dressed in their every day wear makes the scene look unorganised and not well planned or thought out at all.

Camera-  The shaky camera work displayed when the camera attempts to pan down the corridor and round to the window is poor.  The camera work isn't smooth in the slightest and this makes the scene look unprofessional. 

The excessive amount of extended long takes of people walking aimlessly appear to just be time filling takes.  This leads the audience to believe that the creators didn't plan enough content to fill the spaces so random pointless shots were used instead.  This makes the scene appear longwinded and boring.

Sound-  The mumbled voices used when dialogue is being exchanged makes the scene unclear.  Nothing can be heard properly and when it is, unnecessary swearing and foul language is used.  This makes the scene come across as childish as if the actors and creators haven't taken anything seriously whilst planning and constructing this piece.

Lighting-  The lighting is too dim when the characters are outside walking down the roads and it is almost pitch black when they are in the wooded area.  The only lighting used is that of the flashlights on the individual's phones, which isn't professional at all.

This scene also created no suspense and had no build up or tension throughout.  There was no obvious storyline that left the audience questioning anything.  The only thing this opening scene left the audience feeling is confusion.

Strengths-

In my opinion the only strengths of this opening scene is the title and the makeup used to create a gaunt looking face on the girl at the end, but even this is poor.

Aim

--  THE AIM OF MY OPENING SCENE IS TO CREATE TENSION, SUSPENSE AND  --

--  DRAMA.  I AIM FOR IT TO CAUSE QUESTIONS TO BE RAISED AND TO MAKE THE  --

--  VIEWER FEEL INTRIUGED BY WHAT IS HAPPENING.  I WANT THE VIEWER TO  --

--  FEEL AS THOUGH THEY WANT TO CONTINUE WATCHING MY FILM TO FIND  --

--  OUT MORE ABOUT THE PLOT AND THE STORYLINE THAT WOULD LATER  --

--  UNFOLD IF THE ENTIRE FILM WAS FILMED, EDITED AND CREATED.  --

Analysis of Past Work- High Grade

Torn- A Grade Example

Strengths

Lighting-  The outside lighting is slightly dim, I assume it was filmed in the early evening.  This makes the scene appear creepy and dull which adds to the sinister feel of the thriller genre.  The high key lighting when the male character enters the shed is great as it urges the viewer the focus on what he is holding and what he is doing.  The low key lighting used on the close ups of the characters feet and hands when they are walking and opening the gate show that these simple procedures aren't all that simple.  It brings a creepy essence to the actions as the viewer is left wondering why this action was such a deep focus.  The bright lighting used to cause purposeful shadows brings a chilling sense to the scene as the male character cuts the dolls into pieces.  Shadows create mystery and questions for the audience and this is what is required in a opening scene.  The aim of an opening scene is to create suspense and mystery and using shadows executes this perfectly.

Camera and Editing-  Both camera and editing have been used brilliantly to grasp the eeriness of a horror.  The initial pan at the beginning of the scene makes the viewer's eyes follow the pan and land their focus on the door where the young man walks out.  This camera technique hooks the viewer into focusing on what is happening on the screen. 

Weaknesses

Although this piece is of a very high quality, there is always room for improvements.  Personally,  I believe some of the low angled shots of the male character's face appear slighting distorted and this doesn't look intentional.  From this I have learnt that when I do my filming, I will consider camera angles and make sure they look normal and not deformed.

Another place where there is room for improvement is possibly with the music.  I feel like the upbeat strings don't fit the scene as well as a slower piece would've done.  The music sounds slightly out of place when it comes in after the high pitched screechy strings.  These strings noises fit perfectly, whereas the faster ones, not so much.

Test Shots- Videos

Millie and I also tested some video shots of hair blowing in the wind as we will be using shots similar to this in our video.  I tried standing Millie facing towards the wind, away from the wind and side on.

 

 

Shot Plans

Here is a brief brainstorm of the kind of ideas I have come up with for different shots for my thriller.

Long shots-

1. Amy and George on the far side of the field
2. George in the workshop
3. George walking onto the field

Mid shots-

1. George pulling Amy around the field
2. George pulling the hair out of his bag
3. George sitting next to girls on a bench

Closeups-

1. George's hand cutting the hair
2. George smelling Amy's hair
3. George holding a girl's hair

There will also be a pan shot of either the work benches, tools, hair clippings or machines.

Location Recce Shots/Test Shots

What we did-

Today Millie and I took practice shots of the locations we would be filming in for our video. We visited the locations at which we will be filimg and planned where we would need to stand and to film the shots we require.

Location-  This is the field on which some of our filming will take place.

Location-  This workshop is going to play as the place where the majority of the filming will happen.

Prop-  These tools will be used by our main character.

Prop-  Shots similar to these will be used to create drama.

Prop-  This clamp will be used to hold objects whilst the main character manipulates them.

Test shot-  This is a quick test shot of a female's hair.  Here we were testing out how the hair would look when a photo was taken of it with the flash on in dim lighting.

Test shot-  We took this shot to test if the reflection looked spooky through the window.  This photo is also proof of Millie and I taking the photos we are using as test shots.

Random shots-  These random shots were taken to test the lighting in different locations.  They are also photo evidence of Millie and I taking the pictures.