Saturday 16 April 2011

Research on films for inspiration

After showcasing our film to our class we got some feeback that we should focus more on developing Dan's character to make him come across more mysterious. Therefore we bought in a variety of different films with the same genre to gain inspiration. We mainly selected gangster type films such as Bullet Boy, American Gangster. These all mainly began the same as ours with a voice over introducing the main character and giving the auidence an idea of what the films about. While watching them we all made notes on the type of voice that was portrayed on the voice over, and how we could include this in our opening to make Dan's character more convincing.

Sunday 10 April 2011

Summary

This has been the first day where we all looked back at our work as a group. We are amazed at what we have accomplished in such a short period of time.
Words can't describe how proud we all are of our film.


We've all agreed that its been the most stressful time of our lives, as the deadlines were hard to keep too because editing was so time consuming. Daniel and Luke literally stayed up all night to get it finished. 


Now its over there's an immense weight off all our shoulders. 
We would like to take it up next year, as its also been really fun.


Thanks and goodbye,
Group Y

Printing

We've just printed our final draft of The Delivery Boy to HD video.

Our other drafts the quality hasn't been that great, so we were nervous about how it would turn out.
Luke had stayed round editing with me so we could get the video done, and it we hadn't slept at all. At 7.30 in the morning the print had finished. It had only taken 45 mins to write to HD, which compared to the other "Bad quality" versions was very fast. So naturally we thought it had gone wrong.

To back up our conclusion, we looked at the file size before we played the clip, and it was only 1 gig.
We'd been doing media for over 30 hours by the time we clicked play, and i've never been more awake in my life.
The quality is insane!
Me and Luke were literally screaming at the computer screen, which only happens on very, very rare occasions.

Media Project Complete

Last Edit

We all went to the studio, re-recorded the voiceover, recorded the music onto the track, and made loads of cuts.
The hardest task was levelling the audio throughout the whole piece. It took a long time before we got a comfortable mix. Studio quality headphones were the best thing to use for this, as you can hear every sound, and with that we probably overdone it with the audio levelling.

We'll check the project again soon after some reflection time, but other than that I think its ready to print.

The Delivery Boy

This is out final product.

We listened to what our test audiance had to say, and we re-recorded the voiceover, added music, and cut many shots out.
Now we're happy with it.

Friday 8 April 2011

Media Blog: Evaluation

Media Evaluation: This is the evaluation we created with the 7 questions set on the year 12 practical blog.

We had some initial problems with rehearsing, as we had a lot to remember to say, and we had to try and structure it.

Thursday 7 April 2011

Me and Luke (re)Recording the Voiceover


We hooked up the microphone to a duel channel headphone amplifier. This allowed both me and luke to hear what i sounded like on the recording, while i was recording it.
This ended up being a long and painful process, as getting the timings right was very difficult. We didn't want to edit into time too much, because we wanted to emulate natural speech. 



The microphone was recording the paper rustling as i was holding it and reading it. We spent a few minuets making a double clipboard to hold the three sheets in place. It was harder than it sounds.

Luke held the narrative so i could read, and also checked the audio whilst trying to keep the timings. 




It took a couple of hours to record and edit into the track, but we were all please with the result. 

Wednesday 6 April 2011

Opening Credits




We've decided to call our film production "Phantom Productions" as Daniel was electrocuted by a "Fantom" powered microphone in the studio on the first day of the edit. It has a nice personal feel and a backstory, so we decided we'd name it that.
After we reviewed the 8 feedback sheets we had managed to get filled in, we realised that there was no easy way of comparing them. The IMDB has a score out of 10, which makes it easy to rate the film as a whole, thus we created a system. We added up the scores for each section, and divided that number by how many numbers there were to get the average, for example, 9+10+8+8+10+8+9+7 = 69. and there were 8 numbers so we divide by 8, so 69 divided by 8 = 8.625, then we rounded to 1 decimal point which was 8.6, thus giving us the average score. (each average score is out of a highest possible 10)

We were very pleased with the average score of 8.9 for camera work, as we honestly did put a lot of effort into trying out lots of different camera angles, and experimented quite a bit to see if we could get any prodigy shots from trying things that were to be quite honest, long shots. (not the actual shot type long shot by the way!)

We were shocked with the average score of 7.4, it was much higher than expected! We realised that the sound in the clip wasn't edited to perfection, and we knew it needed a lot of work so we were pleased about that. Also, we were extremely pleased with the 8.6 average score for editing, seeing as it was only a rough copy and not even finished, so we were ecstatic with that result.

We then made an average score for the whole film opening by averaging the scores for each individual section. (8.6+7.4+8.9+7.9+8+8.1 = 48.9, divide by how many numbers = 6, 48.9 divided by 6 = 8.15, then round to one decimal place which is 8.2. Meaning our overall film rating for our draft is 8.2, which we personally thought was absolutely brilliant.

Class feedback

The good point was they felt the narrative was good as they understand it, and that the commentary and camera work was good. This helped us know we was on the right track and our film all made sense.


The good points was that overall the person seemed to enjoy it this gave us a confidence boost to know that others enjoyed our work.

The good points are that the narrative is good and the sound, although they said more sound is needed. This helps us know that we need to focus working on our sound.

The good points was that they wanted to know what happens next which shows they found it interesting. They also commented that the blood used on Dan's face was really realistic so it was good that the makeup looked believable otherwise It wouldn't of came across serious. 

The good points was that the story line is interesting although they contradicted themselves and rated a 5 based on if they would watch it again. They commented that we needed more backing sound so from this we realised we definitely need to work on the music. They also said that the shot with Georgia in the boot needs to be longer so we are going to edit that and try make it longer.




The good points is that they said theres a wider range of camera angles so we know that what we filmed came across good. They also said there was a good twist in storyline which is what we intended to do so it boosted our confidence to know our plan worked.

The good points made was that our camera work was rated at amazing which we was all really pleased about to know our work came across good. They when asked if they would watch it again they rated it at a 10 which showed our film was interesting. Although they commented that our camera jumped in some parts so we know we have to evaluate some shots and edit the jumpy parts.

The good points was that they rated our film a 9 for sound, camera work, control of narrative, characters and if they would watch it again., this was all positive feedback. Overall the person seemed to really enjoy the film which we was all pleased at.  Although they gave us some helpful criticism and said Dan messes up some words at the mirror which so we are going to re-do this in order for it to sound perfect.

Opening Credits; Ident



This is our opening sequence. The group decided to take it from my horror still images. We added effects and created audio using garageband.

Tuesday 5 April 2011

Pictures


Daniel practising for the backing track


Daniel and Alice hard at work on the group blog

Luke hard at work


Georgia Hard at work


Luke working on the writing side of the group blog


Daniel's sticky note approach to research


Alice in the studio


Editing face

Luke caught off guard in the studio

Working on our Idea




Shooting Schedule



Our shooting schedule. We planned it for sunday as it was the only day that the industrial estate would be free of cars and lorries parked up either side, which would of spoilt the shot. We started at 10am and finished by 5pm. We managed to film everything we wanted more than once, so that we could eliminate any continuity errors.

Plan for the opening sequence



Our legitimate planning for our opening sequence

First Group Meeting




This is our first meeting in which we gave each other roles. We figured that it would help us in drawing the storyboards if we could see the actors faces and knew their mannerisms. The 'Plan of opening sequence' is where all the storyboards derived from.

Film Research

Georgia's Research

Luke's Research

Daniels Research; (specifically focusing on narrative and music)

Alice's Research




Mrs Thrasher was kind enough to lend us many films with voice overs, specifically gangster films; as we had a meeting where we decided we'd like to combine a "Gangster styled" piece with a shock horror. 

We Individually looked through various films, and collaborated out ideas in a meeting. We decided that we definitely needed some music played over the background, and that music should be something that originates from major cities of America, which is where a stereotypical gangster would exist. We decided to tribute the  stereotypical american gangster with a jazzy/blues track which played in the background. However we also decided that this is as far as we would go in stepping into a stereotype. Therefore the accents are our own accents, and we don't try to imitate a particular style. We instead invent our own.  As I play blues guitar, and know various forms of jazz on piano, i quickly wrote a track ready to be recorded for our film. We also revised the voice over idea and wrote a script.

Edit

Yesterday, we all went to Daniel's studio to edit and review our roughly finished film opening. After the showcase we now knew what to cut from our film so continued to edit based on our feedback from miss and our class. We were instructed to change the length of the film as we were told it 'dragged on' and made it less interesting. In the 4-5 hours we spent in the studio we managed to cut down a reasonable amount, and now we have become happy with the length, as it flows smoother, and gets to the point.

One thing we hadn't included in the film was a production name and logo, however yesterday we spent a long time creating one. We decided to call our production name 'Phantom productions'. We all decided to call it this because this was the power source Daniel was electrocuted by was Fantom powered, and as a group we thought it was a nice little pun and something which we thought that was fitting for the film. The word phantom also means a ghostly figure and relates to out genre of it being a horror.

Another thing we needed to change was a few transitions and to create a music soundtrack, and yesterday we were able to do both. In Daniel's studio we used the piano and a music software program to create a jazzy riff, which we were able to make fit well with the film.

We will be going to the studio as a group one day this week to make our final changes to the film, and make sure everything is converted and ready to hand in.

Thursday 10 March 2011

Filming Production

Our first day of filming was very productive as we knew what we needed to film and we done this quickly.  We decided to film at Dan's house on sunday as it was a day we were all free and was easiest location to travel to.

 First of all we filmed the shaving scene in the bathroom, we used extreme close ups as when filming we noticed It was clearer to see the cut on his face, whereas originally we planned to do a close up. This scene took the longest as we had to make sure It looked effective. We continued with Dan doing his morning routine which included him looking into the mirror and putting his tie on. First of all we planned to do a straight cut from shaving to putting his tie on. This seemed confusing as It jumped from one location to another so we decided to do a handheld tracking shot. This followed Dan from the bathroom to the mirror and made the scene clearer and also established the location, this worked better.

 Next we filmed Dan shouting goodbye to me when I was upstairs. Originally my face was going to be included when I lean over the banister to wave goodbye but once filming my face wouldn't be in view of the shot. By doing this It made the Dans character seem more mysterious as the audience wont see his 'girlfriend'.

On the day we decided a high angle shot would be better when Dan's character pulls out from the drive way. It made It seem as though the 'girlfriend' was watching him from the upstairs window which created a more mysterious feeling as to why she watched him.

The next scene was the car scene with Georgia and Dan we stayed to our original ideas with the angles of the camera. We decided to use a long shot of Dan getting out of the car and then used a tracking shot of him going to open the boot where Georgia was. We found this worked so his movement is clear and the audience understand the location and what's going on. The end shot is from Georgia's point of view of Dan shouting the boot down after filming It and looking at the shot we though it would be more effective if georgia screams when the boot slams down and then fades to black. This worked better as was from the characters point of view so makes the audience feel included.

I thought the filming day went well  this is because we knew what we needed and wanted to film. This helped us all know what was needed and we could all put in more input in dialogue and shots. By doing this we filmed everything we aimed to and meant we didn't need to film on another day.

Sunday 6 March 2011

Piano Score, First Draft



This is the first draft of what I intend to record over my piece. Its inspired from Dave Brubecks 'Blue Rondo A La Turk' which features a large improvisation in the middle section. I intend to take the chords and improvise around them, which will make it an origional piece.

Thursday 3 March 2011

Diary of our Group

Wednesday 5th January 


Our first meeting we discussed each of our ideas. We explained how we would do create each opening sequence of our idea. We then went home and created each of our own short storyboards to decide the following lesson which idea to expand on.


Thursday 6th January 


The next lesson we watched different opening sequences of other films and students that had made opening sequences before to get an idea of what ours would have to be like.


Friday 7th January


We decided to expand on the idea of a young girl in a boot, however we changed the setting  to an industrial estate as it become more convent as Dan lived nearby where we got permission and we also was doing our filming at his house.

Wednesday 12th January 

After deciding on what our story board was going to be based on we decided to talk about the acting that would be needed and who would play each character we chose Dan to be the male character and Georgia to be  the young girl in the boot, we also decided to have Alice as the 'girlfriend' of the male character who would not be shown just speak in one part  to give the audience the idea that the girlfriend was unaware what the male character was doing.

Thursday 13th January

This lesson was a teaching lesson of the different ways of using the camera in a quick demonstration.
1. PANNING SHOT
2. TRACKING SHOT
3. WHIP PAN
4. REVERSE TRACK
5. CRASH ZOOM
6. CRANE/BIRDS EYE VIEW/AERIAL
7. WORM'S EYE VIEW
8. LOW ANGLE of any of the above


Friday 13th January


This lesson we had to practice using a camera and different ways of  using camera actions which we had previously learned about.  We spent 2 hours on learning the different features and then filmed a shot of Alice and Dan arguing which we was then going to edit calling our primarily sequence to practise editing.

Wednesday 19th January

On this day we watched as a class different opening sequences e.g. The mummy, Legally blonde, Children of men and Seven.

Thursday 20th January

On this lesson we analyzed 'Children of men ' to help us see what features go into an opening sequence to intrigue the audience using mes en scene

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp1cXTJSVf0&tracker=False









Tuesday 1 March 2011

Props List

Male Character 
Long black coat
Ordinary work clothes- Trousers, Shirt
Hair- Neat


Female Character 
Ordinary clothing 
Black tired eyes
Messy hair
Gag in mouth
Hands tied back

Sunday 20 February 2011

Screen shots of editing opening scene




While editing we spent a long time using the colour correcting tool so that every shot had a vibrant feel to it, and was clear. We had to find a right point between the separate colour tools so that it played through smoothly when we were finished.



The audio in our production was split up into several sections such as; backing music, actual sound, narration, and sound effects. It took a long process of trial and error and skill before we could get the right synchronisation between the 4.



There are a few slugs in our production which we filled with text, such as our names and the title of the film (The delivery boy). We also had to and synchronise the slugs and the audio so it flowed smoothly and added dramatic effects to our the production.


Thursday 17 February 2011

Treatment Form

Concept 

The concept of our opening sequence is an ordinary man who lives an ordinary life has another side to him which nobody knows of. He secretly is abducting a young girl in his boot, which we are unable he is going to do with.

Characterization


There are two main characters within our opening sequence. The male character we have used we have made to be perceived as ordinary, by his costume being a normal black coat and office work clothing. He has strong face expressions as he keeps a straight face, looks quite serious and have a mystery to him. The character of the young girl is introduced in the boot of the males car she is tied up with bruises and cuts just about visible, wearing a tracksuit which shows she has been taken on an ordinary day


Theme 
  Normality and the beginning of the opening which then ventures into a horror from the dramatic contrast you could say its classed as a psychological horror.

Tone

The tone of this opening sequence begins as peaceful, normal, and happy which is in contrast to what is happening and his personality

Story 

The story-line of the film begins with a man starting his daily routine before going to work. He begins to shave by then cutting himself which introduces the idea of blood. He then puts his clothes on and walks down the stairs, he puts his long black coat on and shouts goodbye to his girlfriend, which is answered to 'ring me after work' proving the girlfriend is unaware of what the male character is doing. He leaves the house and drives off. The music is turned of which is bright happy music which is contrast to the person he is to how people perceive him. The male character then arrives at the industrial estate where he gets out of his car and opens the boot. The camera is then turned to the new character of the young girl struggling in the boot trying to get out with her hands and legs tied up. The male character then slams the boot down ending the opening scene.

Detailed Storyboard

Mrs Thrashers Feedback

Storyboard

Thursday 10 February 2011

Production Guide

  Brainstorming
·     Planning Your Opening Sequence
·     Detailed Treatment Form
·     Detailed Storyboard
·     Shooting Schedule (to go with your storyboards)
·     Shot log/Capture list (and then everything that goes with the actual filming thereafter in the book)

Wednesday 2 February 2011

Group P


Group P consists of;    
(from left to right)

Alice Piner - www.

Luke Smith

Georgia Mahoney

Daniel Drinkwater

Sunday 23 January 2011

Filming 1

Today as a group we filmed for our film intro for the first time at Daniels house.
We all felt it went brilliantly as we managed to get every shot we needed, perfectly too!
We wanted to get the filming done as quick as possible so we could spend more money on editing, so filmed on average every shot at least 5 times from different angles so we had plenty of shots to use and experiment with.
Luckily enough, we got all the filming done in one day, which was fantastic for us!


Luke filmed most of the shots and was the main director of the production, while Daniel was the main character. Alice and Georgia also played important roles in the film, as well as taking care of the makeup and hair of the crew, and even helping film a few shots and directing some parts which Luke was unable to.

We all agreed that it was a very productive day.

Saturday 15 January 2011

Shot Log



This is the shot log of every clip we used in the opening sequence. On the day of the shoot, we went back to mine and viewed every shot, making a note of which ones to use and which ones to dismiss. This made the edit considerably easier.

Wednesday 5 January 2011

Group Mindmap




This was our initial mind-map which prompted the first group meeting. We each brainstormed out individual ideas, then compromised with each other as we combined them together. That way everyone was happy, and the film would be equally shared.