We had our filming on the 5th of December and we reached our aim which was to get all our filming done. This took us overall about 3 to 4 hours.
We followed our shotting schedule and completed all the shots with only a few problems. For example, the shot where we throw the glasses out the window had to have about 5 takes as the we kept hitting the window as we threw the glasses, but as a group we decided on the best take to use for our overall piece.
We also decided to change a few shots which would fit better for the film, for example the seductive scene, we included more parts for Paolo as we believed that in Jen's daydream she would imagine Paolo as a more full on, romantic character.
Another change we decided on was that the shots for the journey to the office at the beginning we combined, as it looked like a good tracking shot to use in our final piece of coursework.
Overall the day run very smoothly and all of our group had fun, including Shaun who played the part of Paolo for us, and the location of my Mum's work was a great choice to use.
Monday, 7 December 2009
Sunday, 29 November 2009
Thursday, 19 November 2009
Proof Script
INT. OFFICE – DAY (MORNING)
JEN is at her desk reading an EMAIL from a fan called LUCY.
V/O JEN
Dear Auntie Babs, I know this is my 800th letter to you but I really don’t think you realise just how much you have changed my life. If it wasn’t for you and your incredible advice, I wouldn’t have met the man who I intend on spending the rest of my life with. I can only hope that one day my life will be as fulfilling as yours- and the huge mansion would be a bonus!
JEN
They don’t have a clue.
V/O JEN
Hope all is well with the girls… and your famous husband PAOLO, of course. All the best, LUCY.
JEN begins to REPLY to LUCY.
JEN
Dear LUCY, all is well in Babs world. I’m glad my advice
helped you. It’s nice to hear that my advice really works. The girls are doing great and mine and PAOLO’s relationship is stronger than ev-
PAOLO appears at JEN’s doorway interrupting her reading aloud.
V/O JEN
Oh my god! It’s him. I could so f-
JEN
PAOLO!
PAOLO
JEN, was wondering if you could work the weekend?
JEN gazes at PAOLO and begins to imagine an idealic flirtation to ask the hunk out. She imagines what she wants to do.
JEN
Only if you are… Baby!
In her imagination JEN acts SEDUCTIVELY towards PAOLO. She throws her GLASSES off and taking out her HAIR then walking towards PAOLO when the embrace.
PAOLO
JEN?
JEN then snaps back into reality and realises she has to try being seductive with PAOLO.
V/O JEN
Right, come on JEN. You need to do this, you are a sex goddess, come on! Just try because he is gorgeous!
JEN tries to remove her GLASSES but they get caught.
V/O JEN
1,2,3… and throw the glasses!
They fly out the WINDOW, now she can’t see where PAOLO is so begins to talk to the WALL. CATS are heard from the street below.
PAOLO reacts to her actions.
V/O JEN
Now go for the big finish! NOW!
JEN
Well… I need to attend a reprographics meeting because the company’s configuration system is becoming rather problematic.
V/O JEN
What the fuck!? Smooth JEN, reallllll smooth.
PAOLO is standing confused as JEN is now trying to locate him by scaling the wall.
JEN finds PAOLO standing near her door as she feels his body.
JEN
Yeah… the weekends fine.
PAOLO is a bit overwhelmed by JEN’s performance but decides to nod and exits.
JEN slowly turns round and slaps her forehead then melting to the ground in utter embarrassment.
V/O JEN
I am Auntie Babs! (title appears, she walks down a street) Ok, my name is Jenny Parker but in my virtual life I am Barbara and this is my world.
Thursday, 12 November 2009
Final Piece Treatment
Title - Dear Auntie Babs
In our final piece, my Playhouse Productions group have decided to use this story line as we mainly aimed for the British RomCom idea:
We begin with a woman who runs a popular website called "Dear Auntie Babs". Its like an agony aunt website where people write in to get advice on love, for example how to get a partner; relationship tips; or anything about romance etc. She is a well known woman who give incredible advice to her clients that email her daily, however she cannot find love herself even though she tells her fans about a life of love and happiness with her 'husband' and huge house. Except she really lives in a flat whilst working in a cramped office. She spends all her time helping her clients find love, but has no courage or confidence to find love herself. She tries all different ways to seduce a man but always seems to fail.
Our opening piece begins with the woman called 'Jen' in her office recieving an email from one of her clients. Whilst reading then replying, her boss enters and asks about her working next week. She immediately gets into a state and imagines what she wishes she could do, for example flirt a little or even ask him out. But when back in reality she snaps out of it, panics, and gives a straight answer without no seduction. Looking back over at the advice she was going to reply to the email, she realises she needs to sort herself out, and get her love life on track as it's making her feel depressed. This will hopefully cause the audience to feel sorry for the character and make them want her to find love.
Through the film she tries various ways to get a man such as blind dates, speed dating etc but still nothing seems to work but slowly progresses when coming to the end of the film:
She starts the pack up her things from her office as her website has become very popular, so moving to her new bigger life could be a big step for Jen, even without a lover. However, before she leaves the boss from the opening scene asks her how she is feeling about going and whilst in deep conversation she picks up the courage to ask him out. This shows that she has developed throughout the film and has become a different character from the opening.
In our final piece, my Playhouse Productions group have decided to use this story line as we mainly aimed for the British RomCom idea:
We begin with a woman who runs a popular website called "Dear Auntie Babs". Its like an agony aunt website where people write in to get advice on love, for example how to get a partner; relationship tips; or anything about romance etc. She is a well known woman who give incredible advice to her clients that email her daily, however she cannot find love herself even though she tells her fans about a life of love and happiness with her 'husband' and huge house. Except she really lives in a flat whilst working in a cramped office. She spends all her time helping her clients find love, but has no courage or confidence to find love herself. She tries all different ways to seduce a man but always seems to fail.
Our opening piece begins with the woman called 'Jen' in her office recieving an email from one of her clients. Whilst reading then replying, her boss enters and asks about her working next week. She immediately gets into a state and imagines what she wishes she could do, for example flirt a little or even ask him out. But when back in reality she snaps out of it, panics, and gives a straight answer without no seduction. Looking back over at the advice she was going to reply to the email, she realises she needs to sort herself out, and get her love life on track as it's making her feel depressed. This will hopefully cause the audience to feel sorry for the character and make them want her to find love.
Through the film she tries various ways to get a man such as blind dates, speed dating etc but still nothing seems to work but slowly progresses when coming to the end of the film:
She starts the pack up her things from her office as her website has become very popular, so moving to her new bigger life could be a big step for Jen, even without a lover. However, before she leaves the boss from the opening scene asks her how she is feeling about going and whilst in deep conversation she picks up the courage to ask him out. This shows that she has developed throughout the film and has become a different character from the opening.
Thursday, 5 November 2009
Homework - RomComs
For this part of our research we watched many openings on Romantic Comedies to experience what our coursework should be like.
We watched films such as
We watched films such as
- Bridget Jones: Edge of Reason
- About a Boy
- Music and Lyrics
- Rumour Has It...
- 50 First Dates
- Something About Mary
Each of these films had many things in common and very few differences. This gave our group an idea of what to use in our final piece and twists we could add in to make it different.
Our main discovery was that 90% of the films we viewed had voice overs in their opeing sequence. These included commentries about characters in the films, mostly from the main characters. They involved discussing either their situation or life so far or simply discribing love. We found that this may be a good idea to use in our final piece because its a great way to tell the audience what has happened so far, whilst allowing them to view the opening scene. We believe that commentry is a very popular technique in Romcoms, especially for Bridget Jones and About a Boy.
We also discovered that some openings showed a main event that occured recently, or a timeline of past experiences. This allowed the audience to be aware of what has happened already in the story. This has given my group an idea to use photos in our final piece to show our romantic couple through their life, all symbolising good times they have shared. This will also give us a good opertunity to include our credits into our two minute opening.
Lastly we noticed that each opening included music to tell the audience which genre it is. This could be a romantic peice of music (for example in The Holiday) or a song aimed at love (for example Music and Lyrics). This has also giving my group the idea to add in music in our final piece which will allow the audience to realise we are creating a Romantic Comedy.
This Research has improved mine and my groups knowledge but we still have a lot more to do until we begin our final piece.
Saturday, 31 October 2009
Prelim Evaluation - Question 5
What new skills have you developed during the process of filming your prelim?
I have learnt many skills during the process of filming our prelim, from directing, to operating the camera, to editing. They are skills that I will improve through the media course.
Because I was a beginner to filming a prelim I picked up on many skills and techniques that i used during the process of creating our film. For example I now know what its like to be on set behind the camera, and experiencing the shooting process. I experienced this process in different positions of the film crew such as director, camera operator and operating the clapper. Crusial rules that I learnt such as waiting for 3 seconds after 'action' is shouten 'cut' and having the clapper in sight of the camera when it begins to start recording. All rules that I now know, which I didn't, but should of before filming the prelim.
Other skills I have developed are my camera shots, for example I experiemented taking different shots that I have never taken before, and using the tripod with and without to see the difference. It widened my range of views when in the hands of the camera. I also learnt that the 180 degree rule is essential when filming, because if it isn't included it could ruin your films point of view.
My directing skills have developed extremely as its made me feel more confident when organising the scenes and placing props and actors where they are needed. If something wasn't right, I knew how to fix the problem, which was something I couldn't do before.
I have learnt many skills when it comes to editing, even though I am quite good at computer based projects, I enjoyed learning how to add things to my film and put my prelim together. Once all music, transitions and credits were added the film came alive and I knew how each element had been created.
Lastly I have learnt how to keep things consistent in the film. For example always use the same room. If not, I have learnt how to find different locations.
I have learnt many skills during the process of filming our prelim, from directing, to operating the camera, to editing. They are skills that I will improve through the media course.
Because I was a beginner to filming a prelim I picked up on many skills and techniques that i used during the process of creating our film. For example I now know what its like to be on set behind the camera, and experiencing the shooting process. I experienced this process in different positions of the film crew such as director, camera operator and operating the clapper. Crusial rules that I learnt such as waiting for 3 seconds after 'action' is shouten 'cut' and having the clapper in sight of the camera when it begins to start recording. All rules that I now know, which I didn't, but should of before filming the prelim.
Other skills I have developed are my camera shots, for example I experiemented taking different shots that I have never taken before, and using the tripod with and without to see the difference. It widened my range of views when in the hands of the camera. I also learnt that the 180 degree rule is essential when filming, because if it isn't included it could ruin your films point of view.
My directing skills have developed extremely as its made me feel more confident when organising the scenes and placing props and actors where they are needed. If something wasn't right, I knew how to fix the problem, which was something I couldn't do before.
I have learnt many skills when it comes to editing, even though I am quite good at computer based projects, I enjoyed learning how to add things to my film and put my prelim together. Once all music, transitions and credits were added the film came alive and I knew how each element had been created.
Lastly I have learnt how to keep things consistent in the film. For example always use the same room. If not, I have learnt how to find different locations.
Prelim Evaluation - Question 4
Think about things you would do differently next time. What will you change when you do your final piece, and why?
My group next time will film in a location which we know we can use without any other people interfering. This was a huge problem during our prelim as we only used the room once which caused continuity to fail. This was because our meeting room was being used after our first day of filming. Therefore next time we will make sure our setting is the same because we want our final piece to look ruined by locations always changing. We don't want our audience to view our piece and notice that our continuity is bad. Next time we will look out for coninuity errors whilst filming so we won't have to face any problems during editing which would cause us to have to film shots over again. This way our film should have little continuity visible as possible.
We will also be thinking about our actors for our final piece. This is because sometimes our teachers we used were not reliable for filming as they were busy with their work, for example maybe in a meeting or be teaching a class. This means that we would therefore have to think about who we would use instead of teachers. We could use pupils, friends or family or ourselves in the group. The only problem with that is we would then not be focusing on our camera shots or directing, but instead consentrating on the acting produced by ourselves and learning lines. However, if we decided to keep with the teachers then we would have to discuss who we would use and what times would be best for filming. Therefore next time we would have to ask them in advance to help us then they can check if they are available, and if so then book us in on them days. This will cause less stress for the group and the staff as they will not be missing any work time.
In conclusion, we know that all the things that went wrong or were not as good in our prelim are going to try and be avoided when we take on the challenge of completing our final piece as my group want to always improve and make our films better.
My group next time will film in a location which we know we can use without any other people interfering. This was a huge problem during our prelim as we only used the room once which caused continuity to fail. This was because our meeting room was being used after our first day of filming. Therefore next time we will make sure our setting is the same because we want our final piece to look ruined by locations always changing. We don't want our audience to view our piece and notice that our continuity is bad. Next time we will look out for coninuity errors whilst filming so we won't have to face any problems during editing which would cause us to have to film shots over again. This way our film should have little continuity visible as possible.
We will also be thinking about our actors for our final piece. This is because sometimes our teachers we used were not reliable for filming as they were busy with their work, for example maybe in a meeting or be teaching a class. This means that we would therefore have to think about who we would use instead of teachers. We could use pupils, friends or family or ourselves in the group. The only problem with that is we would then not be focusing on our camera shots or directing, but instead consentrating on the acting produced by ourselves and learning lines. However, if we decided to keep with the teachers then we would have to discuss who we would use and what times would be best for filming. Therefore next time we would have to ask them in advance to help us then they can check if they are available, and if so then book us in on them days. This will cause less stress for the group and the staff as they will not be missing any work time.
In conclusion, we know that all the things that went wrong or were not as good in our prelim are going to try and be avoided when we take on the challenge of completing our final piece as my group want to always improve and make our films better.
Prelim Evaluation - Question 3
Evaluate your prelim. What could be improved? What is already good about it?
Me and my group decided that there were a few things that could of been improved in our prelim. These were things such as continuity; the 180 degree rule; and the actors vocals.
We had many problems with continuity throughout our prelim. For example we had to film in two different rooms for one scene which caused the location to look different, the lighting in the shots are different, the door is a different colour and the desk is a dfferent size and shape to the one in the first room. This causes the audience to notice that there is a continuity problem in our prelim as it is very noticable in our film. If we had shot all of our film in the meeting room, not only would our film of looked better and more professional, but no continuity would have been caused, not so obviously anyway.
Our 180 degree rule was going very well in our filming stages. We were aware that we needed to film every shot on one side of the shots and we were doing this very well. This was important in our shot counter shot as we needed to focus on the conversation being shot all on the same side. We did this successfully. However, when we came to editing our film we noticed that in one shot which was an over the shoulder shot, we had accidentally filmed on the opposite side to ever other shot we had done. This was a disappointment to us as we tried our best to obide the 180 degree rule. This could have been improved be reshooting that one shot, then our 180 degree rule would have been perfect throughout our prelim.
Finally, we had a problem with the actors volume of their lines. For example, when Mr Smith enters the room and says his lines, we then cut to a close up to him, but once he says his next set he becomes more high pitched. This could of been improved if we watched back over his last shot and notified him to speak in a certain way which would of matched his first pronounciation and pitch. Also, when Miss Cook enters the room, she is facing away from the camera when speaking. When we watched our finished piece we realised that it appeared muffled and you couldn't hear or understand what she was saying. This could of been improved if she raised the volume or rotated her head slightly to face the camera more, therefore the speaker would have picked up her line alot better.
Our group believe that our prelim has some elements that make it good already. For example our editing and certain shots chosen to use.
I believe that our editing towards our film was done very well. We cropped each shot to precisely the right part we needed for the film which incuded the entering of the shot and the exiting. the timing had to be perfect for each shot and I believe we did this extremely well. Another editing technique we used was transitions for shots. We used this for the ending, our last shot fades out to the end credits. We believe that this is very cleverly done and looks quite professional. We also added music to play over certain shots. This gave the film certain surroundings and atmospheres which make our prelim more exciting and fun. Our Opening titles and credits are well done as they appear on a plan black background before the film actually begins and after it finishes. However, we have made the title appear over our first shot so it makes the audience not only notice and look at the title, but they will also look at the first shot ans familiarise themselves with the setting and character. So overall, i believe our editing had made our film alot better then we hoped, making look alot more professional.
Lastly, I thing that we had chosen some good shots to include in our prelim. Our group wanted to try lots of different types of shots that we liked for example; over the shoulder; panning; point of view; etc. A good shot that all my group were proud of was our panning shot of the room. This also combined with a point of view shot. We were pleased that we included two types of shots in one shot. We were happy with each shot taken and it made our prelim less of a beginners work. Poor quality was affoided and the outcome of the film was good and my group were happy with our film.
Me and my group decided that there were a few things that could of been improved in our prelim. These were things such as continuity; the 180 degree rule; and the actors vocals.
We had many problems with continuity throughout our prelim. For example we had to film in two different rooms for one scene which caused the location to look different, the lighting in the shots are different, the door is a different colour and the desk is a dfferent size and shape to the one in the first room. This causes the audience to notice that there is a continuity problem in our prelim as it is very noticable in our film. If we had shot all of our film in the meeting room, not only would our film of looked better and more professional, but no continuity would have been caused, not so obviously anyway.
Our 180 degree rule was going very well in our filming stages. We were aware that we needed to film every shot on one side of the shots and we were doing this very well. This was important in our shot counter shot as we needed to focus on the conversation being shot all on the same side. We did this successfully. However, when we came to editing our film we noticed that in one shot which was an over the shoulder shot, we had accidentally filmed on the opposite side to ever other shot we had done. This was a disappointment to us as we tried our best to obide the 180 degree rule. This could have been improved be reshooting that one shot, then our 180 degree rule would have been perfect throughout our prelim.
Finally, we had a problem with the actors volume of their lines. For example, when Mr Smith enters the room and says his lines, we then cut to a close up to him, but once he says his next set he becomes more high pitched. This could of been improved if we watched back over his last shot and notified him to speak in a certain way which would of matched his first pronounciation and pitch. Also, when Miss Cook enters the room, she is facing away from the camera when speaking. When we watched our finished piece we realised that it appeared muffled and you couldn't hear or understand what she was saying. This could of been improved if she raised the volume or rotated her head slightly to face the camera more, therefore the speaker would have picked up her line alot better.
Our group believe that our prelim has some elements that make it good already. For example our editing and certain shots chosen to use.
I believe that our editing towards our film was done very well. We cropped each shot to precisely the right part we needed for the film which incuded the entering of the shot and the exiting. the timing had to be perfect for each shot and I believe we did this extremely well. Another editing technique we used was transitions for shots. We used this for the ending, our last shot fades out to the end credits. We believe that this is very cleverly done and looks quite professional. We also added music to play over certain shots. This gave the film certain surroundings and atmospheres which make our prelim more exciting and fun. Our Opening titles and credits are well done as they appear on a plan black background before the film actually begins and after it finishes. However, we have made the title appear over our first shot so it makes the audience not only notice and look at the title, but they will also look at the first shot ans familiarise themselves with the setting and character. So overall, i believe our editing had made our film alot better then we hoped, making look alot more professional.
Lastly, I thing that we had chosen some good shots to include in our prelim. Our group wanted to try lots of different types of shots that we liked for example; over the shoulder; panning; point of view; etc. A good shot that all my group were proud of was our panning shot of the room. This also combined with a point of view shot. We were pleased that we included two types of shots in one shot. We were happy with each shot taken and it made our prelim less of a beginners work. Poor quality was affoided and the outcome of the film was good and my group were happy with our film.
Prelim Evaluation - Question 2
Explain the creative decisions you made during the process.
Our first creative decision we discovered was our decision on what story to use. This was an important decision because we wanted to decide on a simple story that wouldn't involve alot of complex shots, which would prove difficult for our first time of filming. Because we were only beginners we needed to have shots that were possible to take and a simple story would allow us to be in control of the camera, whilst getting used to the whole filming consept. Me and Courtney had thought of a plot before our group was created. This included us already creating the script and some of the storyboard, so our group continued with that idea. It not only saved time but the plot was already simple.
Another creative decision my group had come across was the decision of our set. We initially were going to use an office, but because of another group wanting it too, we decided on changing our setting to a meeting room. This caused our film to stay the same, as the location stayed similar to the office. Our decision however did cause a few problems as we couldn't use that room again after our first day of filming so we had to find another setting that was also similar to the meeting room. This was difficult but once we settled for a room we realised that continuity of the rooms would be obvious to the audience. This caused our storyboard to be altered a bit to fit the changes of the room. Props were needed in the second room to make it look like the meeting room, but our decision I believe was still a good one as our room suited our story/plot.
That problem also created another creative decision from my group because we had to decide on the second room to film in. This become a very difficult decision for our group because we needed to find a location that wasn't being used and one that was similar to the meeting room. We in the end found a classroom that wasn't occupied so transformed that as much as we could to look like the meeting room. This problem has made it clear in our prelim that our location had changed.
A different creative decision me and my group come up with was to cut some of the opening shots from our story. This was because we felt that it was best to begin with the teacher sitting at the desk than our original opening of the 'orange girl' walking towards the headteachers office. We thought this because it would not only decrease the time of our story, even though that wasn't a problem of our prelim, but we felt it made the audience get straight into the plot and not drag the beginning out. This opening took a few discussions within the group to get it right. We included our production logo and title of the film before any shots were shown. This allowed us to cut two shots out. We all agreed that our beginning fitted our story, along with our opening music which totally set the scene.
Another creative decision that we made was to put in our missing shot counter shot. This was essential for our prelim as we knew that it had to be included. However, we recently had forgotten to include it, so we had to make a creative decision on where to place it in our story. Once we found a good place to put it we needed to film the shots and then insert it into our film that we had already edited and put together. Once the element was in the plot we were happy our decision was made at that time and not any later as we may of easily forgotten to include it.
Our last creative decision was to use some teachers in our film. This meant that most of our group could consentrate on the filming and directing, than focusing on the acting and remembering lines etc. We decided to use trust worthy teachers that we knew well, so we could trust them to take our task seriously so work could be complete.
Our first creative decision we discovered was our decision on what story to use. This was an important decision because we wanted to decide on a simple story that wouldn't involve alot of complex shots, which would prove difficult for our first time of filming. Because we were only beginners we needed to have shots that were possible to take and a simple story would allow us to be in control of the camera, whilst getting used to the whole filming consept. Me and Courtney had thought of a plot before our group was created. This included us already creating the script and some of the storyboard, so our group continued with that idea. It not only saved time but the plot was already simple.
Another creative decision my group had come across was the decision of our set. We initially were going to use an office, but because of another group wanting it too, we decided on changing our setting to a meeting room. This caused our film to stay the same, as the location stayed similar to the office. Our decision however did cause a few problems as we couldn't use that room again after our first day of filming so we had to find another setting that was also similar to the meeting room. This was difficult but once we settled for a room we realised that continuity of the rooms would be obvious to the audience. This caused our storyboard to be altered a bit to fit the changes of the room. Props were needed in the second room to make it look like the meeting room, but our decision I believe was still a good one as our room suited our story/plot.
That problem also created another creative decision from my group because we had to decide on the second room to film in. This become a very difficult decision for our group because we needed to find a location that wasn't being used and one that was similar to the meeting room. We in the end found a classroom that wasn't occupied so transformed that as much as we could to look like the meeting room. This problem has made it clear in our prelim that our location had changed.
A different creative decision me and my group come up with was to cut some of the opening shots from our story. This was because we felt that it was best to begin with the teacher sitting at the desk than our original opening of the 'orange girl' walking towards the headteachers office. We thought this because it would not only decrease the time of our story, even though that wasn't a problem of our prelim, but we felt it made the audience get straight into the plot and not drag the beginning out. This opening took a few discussions within the group to get it right. We included our production logo and title of the film before any shots were shown. This allowed us to cut two shots out. We all agreed that our beginning fitted our story, along with our opening music which totally set the scene.
Another creative decision that we made was to put in our missing shot counter shot. This was essential for our prelim as we knew that it had to be included. However, we recently had forgotten to include it, so we had to make a creative decision on where to place it in our story. Once we found a good place to put it we needed to film the shots and then insert it into our film that we had already edited and put together. Once the element was in the plot we were happy our decision was made at that time and not any later as we may of easily forgotten to include it.
Our last creative decision was to use some teachers in our film. This meant that most of our group could consentrate on the filming and directing, than focusing on the acting and remembering lines etc. We decided to use trust worthy teachers that we knew well, so we could trust them to take our task seriously so work could be complete.
Prelim Evaluation - Question 1
Explain, in detail, the process you went through to create your prelim.
We firstly had to decide on our storyline for our prelim. This began with a discussion about different ideas each of the members of our group thought of. This discussion involved the difficulties we believed that could have occured from each idea and the positive aspects that could come out of them. We all decided on creating a story that was simple as it was our first time filming, directing or creating any length of film whilst being taught media. Once we had agreed on our ideas, and began to produce details of our chosen story, we then began on the script. This involved a minimal time as we knew that it wouldn't take too long to complete. This was because we were only planning on creating a less than two minute film. Once we knew our script we began on the storyboard. Our storyboard contained many different shots that each of our members of the group had contributed in giving and also contained the shots that were needed in the prelim. This took a while longer than the script as it had each shot had to be drawn as seen in the film so we knew how to shoot each scene and what angles and shots to use.
Once the storyboard was complete, we began to look around our school, in search of the perfect location for our film. We looked in different offices and classroom and in the end we came across the perfect office. However, we discovered a problem at this point because another group had also wanted that office and they were filming at the same time as our group. Therefore we looked around the school once again. We then found a room that wasn't owned by our school so we had to get permission from its owner, and after the agreement we had found our filming room. We had decided to use our headteacher for one of the characters in the film but he couldn't make it as he was in a meeting so we settled for another teacher. Once we were all ready we began to film.
When we went into the room and set up the camera, we all decided to do all the shots that involved the teacher first because once all her shots were done, she wouldn't be needed anymore and could then get on with her work. So we observed our storyboard and filmed every shot she appeared in once she knew her lines from the script. During each shots we sometimes had to consider the continuity, for example she was always writing on a piece of paper so we had to make sure that she continued this action through to other shots.
Whilst filming, our headteacher who was going to play the main part had entered our room and told us that he could now be in the film as he was available, which was all well as we had a character that he could play. We filmed his shots that were needed and then the shots that him and the other teacher were in so once again- we would keep them for minimal time as possible so they could continue with their work.
Once we finished our filming for that day, as we only had an hour to film, we had realised that we still needed to shoot alot more shots. During our next media lesson we started editing the shots we had already taken. Fitting them together even if there were shots missing. This helped us because we could then see easily what shots were missing and what we needed to do to improve. Also during this lesson, we noticed that our shot counter shot was missing from our prelim so we thankfully put that into our storyboard before our next filming day. Without this mistake being noticed we would have not included the shot counter shot and we wouldn't have been marked to our highest ability for it because we missed out the shot needed in the prelim.
Our editing involved some transitions from shots which we used for the end of our film and credits which we added. Some of our opening titles were placed over our shots to show that it shouldn't distract the audience watching to take their aways away from the film, instead watch whilst reading. We also added in music in some of our shots which created a mood in the film, an atmosphere surrounding our characters. For example, when the 'orange girl' is wondering how to be mischievious, we added an up tempo music so to show the audience that she was thinking about doing something out of the ordinary. During this two hour media lesson we were going to film for the second hour, but continuity problems- such as our teacher not wearing the same clothes, and camera problems- such as low battery had stopped us from filming on that day.
However, the next day in our media class we were given two hours to finish our filming. This was more than enough for us as we were only missing a few shots. But we came across a problem. We couldn't get the same room that we had filmed in before because it was being used for a meeting. This meant we had to search for another room. This became a problem in a finished film as our continuity for the room wasn't very good, as it was obvious that two different rooms were used, but we had no choice. Once in the room we tried our best to make it look the same as the other, for example the teachers desk, her piece of paper, the door etc. Once we had sorted out the room we recovered into our postitions as camera operator and director and shot the vital scenes that we had missed.
Once they were complete we added them to our others and edited the film as a whole. We cut down shots to take out the clapper board and we sliced shots so we could used the shots in the shot counter shot. Once we finished and watched our final piece we noticed that our continuity was disappointing but we were overall happy with our prelim.
We firstly had to decide on our storyline for our prelim. This began with a discussion about different ideas each of the members of our group thought of. This discussion involved the difficulties we believed that could have occured from each idea and the positive aspects that could come out of them. We all decided on creating a story that was simple as it was our first time filming, directing or creating any length of film whilst being taught media. Once we had agreed on our ideas, and began to produce details of our chosen story, we then began on the script. This involved a minimal time as we knew that it wouldn't take too long to complete. This was because we were only planning on creating a less than two minute film. Once we knew our script we began on the storyboard. Our storyboard contained many different shots that each of our members of the group had contributed in giving and also contained the shots that were needed in the prelim. This took a while longer than the script as it had each shot had to be drawn as seen in the film so we knew how to shoot each scene and what angles and shots to use.
Once the storyboard was complete, we began to look around our school, in search of the perfect location for our film. We looked in different offices and classroom and in the end we came across the perfect office. However, we discovered a problem at this point because another group had also wanted that office and they were filming at the same time as our group. Therefore we looked around the school once again. We then found a room that wasn't owned by our school so we had to get permission from its owner, and after the agreement we had found our filming room. We had decided to use our headteacher for one of the characters in the film but he couldn't make it as he was in a meeting so we settled for another teacher. Once we were all ready we began to film.
When we went into the room and set up the camera, we all decided to do all the shots that involved the teacher first because once all her shots were done, she wouldn't be needed anymore and could then get on with her work. So we observed our storyboard and filmed every shot she appeared in once she knew her lines from the script. During each shots we sometimes had to consider the continuity, for example she was always writing on a piece of paper so we had to make sure that she continued this action through to other shots.
Whilst filming, our headteacher who was going to play the main part had entered our room and told us that he could now be in the film as he was available, which was all well as we had a character that he could play. We filmed his shots that were needed and then the shots that him and the other teacher were in so once again- we would keep them for minimal time as possible so they could continue with their work.
Once we finished our filming for that day, as we only had an hour to film, we had realised that we still needed to shoot alot more shots. During our next media lesson we started editing the shots we had already taken. Fitting them together even if there were shots missing. This helped us because we could then see easily what shots were missing and what we needed to do to improve. Also during this lesson, we noticed that our shot counter shot was missing from our prelim so we thankfully put that into our storyboard before our next filming day. Without this mistake being noticed we would have not included the shot counter shot and we wouldn't have been marked to our highest ability for it because we missed out the shot needed in the prelim.
Our editing involved some transitions from shots which we used for the end of our film and credits which we added. Some of our opening titles were placed over our shots to show that it shouldn't distract the audience watching to take their aways away from the film, instead watch whilst reading. We also added in music in some of our shots which created a mood in the film, an atmosphere surrounding our characters. For example, when the 'orange girl' is wondering how to be mischievious, we added an up tempo music so to show the audience that she was thinking about doing something out of the ordinary. During this two hour media lesson we were going to film for the second hour, but continuity problems- such as our teacher not wearing the same clothes, and camera problems- such as low battery had stopped us from filming on that day.
However, the next day in our media class we were given two hours to finish our filming. This was more than enough for us as we were only missing a few shots. But we came across a problem. We couldn't get the same room that we had filmed in before because it was being used for a meeting. This meant we had to search for another room. This became a problem in a finished film as our continuity for the room wasn't very good, as it was obvious that two different rooms were used, but we had no choice. Once in the room we tried our best to make it look the same as the other, for example the teachers desk, her piece of paper, the door etc. Once we had sorted out the room we recovered into our postitions as camera operator and director and shot the vital scenes that we had missed.
Once they were complete we added them to our others and edited the film as a whole. We cut down shots to take out the clapper board and we sliced shots so we could used the shots in the shot counter shot. Once we finished and watched our final piece we noticed that our continuity was disappointing but we were overall happy with our prelim.
Thursday, 29 October 2009
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