Filming Days

On Friday we have been filming our second half of our film this was during lessons. But we decided to add the extra scenes so that we could have more choices to pick out any interesting shots. But we will also take other shots that will be random but convenient to our film which we would later put in final cut.

On Wednesday we did our first section of our film during lessons. We did found it difficult for the appropriate shots to be taken but we have over come our problem and has been sorted as we took many shots till we thought it was perfect.

Extra Scenes for film- ShadowS

These are some extra scenes that we have thought about to include because we initially thought that our film would be a bit short and so we thought of ideas that we could include through out the film which will be necessary.

StoryBoarding- ShadowS

These are just a few shots of what our storyboard looks like giving hints on what our film is about.

Here we have a shot starting with an open scene of the tunnel, empty and quiet. Then it cuts to another shot of a black figure standing fair back into the distance while people walk past and around the black figure.

Another shot of the camera been slightly hit by something and tilts to one side showing a more close up of the figure moving towards the camera. It then cuts were the camrea is going out of focus with the figure blurring out.

Next following through the storyboard the camera focus into a black screen not knowing what is out there. Then a flash back of the eyes opening in front of the camera of an extreme shot of the eyes which then fades into darkness. Carrying on with the storyboard.

Decisions II - 23/1/09

Following a long group discussion regarding our sequence, we made many decisions before beginning storyboarding our project.

We swapped and changed a multitude of ideas for our sequence, and came to a conclusion about the final state of our plan. "ShadowS" was the first idea our group came up with, and we have chosen to use it as the main body of our opening sequence, implementing ideas from our "White Whisperer" idea.

Following a creative discussion session, chronologically planning our sequence, we went through a number of drafts, finally landing on a simple, professional sequence idea that conveys our ideas more efficiently.

Results - 23/1/09

After handing out our questionnaires to a random sample of students within our college on the 21st, we gathered in an interesting set of results.

We sampled an equal proportion of males and females, six for each gender, and questioned an age band from 16-18, which corresponds to our previous target audience research data.

We received a range of results for the subjects' favourite genres, with comedy and thriller receiving three votes each, and horror receiving four votes. At this later stage in the planning process, this will not affect our final piece.

The voting that occurred between our two sequence ideas was the most interesting part, with seven votes for "ShadowS" and five votes for "White Whisperer". All the votes we received for "White Whisperer" were from female voters, indicating a possible gender bias, showing the sequence seems more appealing to females. All the votes received for "Shadows" were from males, bar one, which shows another gender bias. Despite these biases, we will not be filming our sequence in order to exclude the other gender.

Based on recent decisions with regard to our sequence and results from our research, our target audience is males aged 16-18.

A few thoughts - 20/1/09

After much thought over a production company name for use in our titles, with a few inputs from George, we have come up with 34kegs. This is an original idea that incorporates our group number and the first letter of each of our names, reflecting our team effort. In our next production meeting, I will run this idea by te rest of our group, and we can make a decision to see if this is what we will call our production team. If so, I will uploads some designs at a later date.

This is just an idea for our company logo design. It is called Lock Stone with a pad lock in the background of the title, set on a black background

Location Scouting - 20/1/09

These are just some photographs that could be used for our film for the scenes that we could take place on filming.

Target Audience Questionnaire - 20/1/09

Media Studies Coursework Questionnaire
Are you:
Male Female
How old are you?
16 17 18 19
What is your favourite film genre?
__________________________________
What are your favourite two films?
__________________________________
__________________________________
What was the last film you saw?
__________________________________
If you were making a film, which of the two following film synopses would you choose and why?

“White Whisperer”
This sequence would also be a montage with titles overlaid onto the images. The shots would show flashbacks of a person’s recent life showing his/hers behaviour shot in black and white. Some images will show the protagonist’s isolation, with them standing still as people rush past at varying speeds. The sequence will close with a shot of a girl underneath a tree, and will cut to a close-up of her smile, with the title stylised over the top.

“ShadowS”
The sequence takes the form of a montage of images reflecting the title, ShadowS, along with a collection of short clips showing unnerving and jarring things. For example, a person dressed in black juddering towards the camera, and short, sharp clips of people running in the dark, creating a suspenseful and enticing image. This would be followed up by the title fading into focus, the words handwritten and fuzzy against a contrasting background.
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

Which of the two synopses did you prefer from a viewers perspective, and why?
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

Thanks for your time, George, Emma, Katie, and Steph.

Sketch for Film Idea - 'ShadowS' Title

This is a sketch for the title of our opening sequence. For our first idea.

Conclusions 16/1/09

Following our extensive target audience research, we have decided on the target audience for our own film. Based on initial plans and synopses, we have found a similarity to films such as The Ring and The Grudge, and are aiming our film to have a similar, if not matching target audience. At this point, our sequence looks to feature more female roles than males, perhaps indicating a female target audience, although we are not intending to exclude males from this audience. In other words, this is not necessarily a film aimed at females. Based on the projected age of the cast of our sequence, we are expecting a target audience age bracket of 16-19.

Target Audience Research - The Ring 16/1/09

After thought on our film idea, we decided to get target audience data for a related film which we didn't analyse. The data above, sourced from IMDB.com shows the user ratings for The Ring, broken down into age groups and gender. After analysis of the graph, we can see more males voted than females, and rated the film lower. The reasoning for a higher female score could be due to the female lead in the movie, which might alienate men. Males aged 18-29 submitted more votes than any other demographic. The highest score was received from females aged 18-29, voting the film 7.4/10. It could be argued that more males voted on the film as they are more likely to use a site like IMDB, although we are not taking this into account.

Decisions 15/1/09

After watching, analysing and gathering relative data for a multitude of film sequences, our group returned to planning. Although this method may be seen as unorthodox and perhaps "backwards", it helped us decide on our chosen genre. We have chosen to adapt and advance Emma's initial film ideas, using her first synposis as a starting point for our final piece.

Another idea for film scene

Another idea and the genre is teenage/horror.
Were we would have flash backs of this persons life living round near Reigate showing his/hers behaviour shot in black and white. Have like a friend smoking with people walking past oblivious to him/her, speeding the walkers faster and slowing down, different images will be showing in a fast passe, then holds on a view of a girl standing underneath a tree, a long shot of this. Panning round, a immediate close up of her face which would show a smile with the tittle saying White Whisperer. The tittle to fade into focus in bold writing for the word White and small lettering style for the word Whisperer.

Target Audience Research - The Sixth Sense

The data above, sourced from IMDB.com shows the user ratings for The Sixth Sense, broken down into age groups and gender. After analysis of the graph, we can see more males voted than females, and rated the film lower. The reasoning for a higher female score could be due to the slow pace and drama of the film, which might not appeal to men. Males aged 18-29 submitted more votes than any other demographic. The highest score was received from males aged under 18, voting the film 8.5/10. It could be argued that more males voted on the film as they are more likely to use a site like IMDB, although we are not taking this into account.

Target Audience Research- Gothika

This report of votes showing results for the age and gender ratings who watch the film Gothika. This information was sourced from www.imdb.com.
Looking at the report in general more females tend to watch this particular film rather than males, this could be because the main character in the film is a female. Relating the age and gender together you can see that females under 18 have the most ratings being 6.7/10 in this particular film showing that this film must have the age rating under 18, which it does as its a 15.

Target Audience Research - Se7en

The data above, sourced from IMDB.com shows the user ratings for Se7en, broken down into age groups and gender. After analysis of the graph, it becomes clear that more males voted than females, and rated the film higher. This could be due to the inclusion of psychological torture and violence, a film element commonly appealing to males. The majority of votes were posted by males ages 18-29, and this age bracket voted the film 8.8/10, the highest score aside from the under-18s. Due to the 18 certification of the film, we have to discard the under-18 portion of the vote demographic, as these votes are irrelevant in the target audience of the movie. This removes 3,370 votes from the equation. It could be argued that more males voted on the film as they are more likely to use a site like IMDB, although we are not taking this into account.

Idea for film scene

An idea of the genre of this opening film sequence is based on horror.
The first shot would be of a person dressed in black, walking down a street at night juddering in places you create an eerie look, with gaps in between showing flash backs of a girl running away in the forest, etc. The black image of the person would judder closer and closer to the camera. Then the tittle would fade into focus and would be called ShadowS were the words will be handwritten and fuzzy, with in the middle of the screen there will be a little light white colour bulb, showing images of trees then blurring around the edges to fade into black.

Film Opening Analysis 13/1/09

The Sixth Sense - Psychological Thriller


We analysed the first three minutes of this clip in order to get a sequence of similar length to our own project. Although it was a rather mundane opening clip, it was a good example of a title-based film opening. The title font was an all-capitalised serif font, showing the viewer that the film is not of a modern, or digitised theme. The font is small and spaced out, placed widely in the centre of the frame, deprived of any stylised concept. When the title "The Sixth Sense" appears on-screen, a shadow "passes" over the text implying the presence of a mysterious figure, which gives the viewer an insight into the genre, a suspense-filled thriller. The music sets the tone of the opening, a slightly eerie, slow-paced orchestral piece with a somewhat epic feel, reflecting the twists and turns to come in the movie.

Film Opening Analysis 13/1/09

Gothika horror.




The mise en scene of the words appear to move away from the camera coming into focus and with the next credit dissolving into each other. The music played in the background creates a more eerie and dramatic sense to give the audience an idea that it is a horror film. You start to hear the conversation before you see the characters involved in it. The first shot of the conversation is dissolved from a black screen into a close up shot of a women's face talking. Selective focus with the person talking in focus and the background out of focus. Tracking shot to the surroundings of were they are and positioned. Followed by an over the shoulder shot to show the women dressed in black talking. The area is set in a dark room with the sun shinning in on their faces to show their features.
The opening scene generally shows what the film will be based upon in a mental prison.

Film Opening Analyses 7/1/09

Se7en - Crime Thriller


Se7en's opening credit sequences gives off very little information with regard to the story, despite a large number of shots. The credits are intercut with close-up shots of a person forming a scrapbook, cutting pictures and articles up. These are generally short shot durations, meaning little is given away, yet we are intrigued to find out what is happening. This is assisted by the use of selective focus in many shots, drawing our attention to specific elements of the frame. The credits are written in small, scrawled handwriting which represents the personal tone of the sequence, and the titles flicker like a failing lightbulb, complementing the eerie tone of the music. Throughout the sequence, the aforementioned music gradually builds in complexity, pace and volume, which is contrapuntal to the images on screen. This reflects the idea that the person is getting more involved with their work, and the crescendo in music draws more attention to this.

Initial thoughts 7/1/09

After some thought and analysis of existing film opening sequences, our group realised at AS level media, we are somewhat restricted in our choice of genre for a multitude of reasons, such as funding, location, and casting. After some consideration, we decided we were only able to authentically produce thrillers, teen dramas or horrors. We then proceeded to analyse the openings to some films relating to our choices of genre.