Neither Jessie nor I had ever used Soundtrack Pro before, and after experimenting on it for what felt like a very long time, we agreed that neither of us could use it to produce a tune of a good quality, and since we want to include a voiceover, the track is not vital and needs no sound effects. With this is mind Jessie and I opted to look at some royalty-free music websites, of which we found one we liked: Freeplay Music. This site had tons of different songs we could use, and specialised in acoustic guitar songs, which is exactly what we were looking for. We looked through a lot of songs to ensure that we found one perfect for our film, and we managed to devise a short-list of three possible songs. The song titles were 'Adios', the first song on the linked page, 'Final Gripe', the second song on the linked page, and 'Feathers in the Air', also the second song on its linked page.
Adios
On the website, 'Adios' is described as "A profound acoustic guitar plays a dirge-like ditty that evokes a feeling of loss." We felt that, after listening to it in time with our opening, it was slightly too (for lack of a better word) sad for our film. The film is about loss, since Katy will be talking about their relationship as a memory implying that they have split up, but we wanted the way she felt about the memories to be happy rather than mournful. We did a lot of experimentation with this track trying to make it work: for example, we attempted to change the track every time a memory was shown to a happier song, but when we watched it through with this in effect we felt that it just didn't work and would be too much of a 'mish-mash' for the viewer, especially if we wanted to include a voiceover.
Feathers in the Air
The description of this song on the website is: "Lightly strummed guitars play out a contemplative chord progression as the rhythm section provides perfect accompaniment." This does not describe the feel of the music very well, but you can imagine by the title and the instruments described indicate that the song is mellow and happy. It is, however, rather repetitive, which is not a deal-breaker in deciding which of the three to use, but we wanted to keep an audience audibly interested when the voiceover (if we have one) cuts out (as we do not plan for it to be constant).
Here is the full musical component to the soundtrack of our film opening, the third song, 'Final Gripe'. At the moment, the song length exactly matches the length of the video and as you will hear, is not repetitive as it includes electric guitar and piano solos which will keep our audience interested. However, we may have to cut some of the song down if we end up having to shorten our opening. Also, this will be perfect for background music with a voice over layered over the top as well as by itself because it can keep the mellow happy and positive tone that we wish to create without overpowering the voiceover when necessary, but picking up again and maintaining its own strength as a song in the parts that will not feature a voiceover.
Saturday, 10 December 2011
The Technical Bit: Part One:- The I-dent
Jessie and I worked together using Livetype to produce an original I-dent that coincides with the genre of our film opening. We researched the distribution companies that were involved in the films that we would place our film in the same group as in terms of genre and style, as well as an example of a distribution company that produces a specific genre of films.
Juno, a quirky teen romantic comedy, was distributed by Fox Searchlight, the branch of 20th Century Fox that produces a more 'alternative' type of film. The I-dent for Fox Searchlight is very general, as the company does not produce films specific to a genre.
A Cinderella Story was distributed by Warner Brothers. It is similar to our film in that it is about a teen relationship. Warner Brothers is another of 'The Big 6' Hollywood distribution companies that also distributes a number of different genres, including action with Sucker Punch (2011) and Final Destination 5 (2011).
It is very rare to find a distribution company that only distributes films of one particular genre, but Magnet Releasing comes pretty close. It specialises in the distribution of only horror, action, comedy and Asian Cinema, which may not sound particularly genre-specific, but when you consider the number of genres that they do not work with, for example drama, romantic comedy, historical and musical films.
Having done sufficient research and experimentation, as well as the development of certain ideas, such as our 'Lego House Cinema' which we attempted to include a graphic in, but we felt that it did not flow very well and decided to nip our attempts to make it work in the bud, so that we could focus our attention on just one I-dent. we hope to, however, include 'Lego House Cinema' in our credits for our opening.
We chose the title 'Messy Productions' during a small 'brainstorming' session Jessie and I had with each other, and felt that the use of the term 'Messy' links with the theme of the scrapbook and also has connotations of the modern teen lifestyle. It also coincidently was the word used to describe teen relationships by my own mother. We thought that the contrast between the title itself and the simple layout of the I-dent would have an almost oxymoronic quality. We also thought that the title had a similar ironic ring to it as 'Working Title' does, as it would normally give the impression of unfinished or basically assembled piece of film, but the audience that we asked about the name responded that they understood the irony. However, since Miss suggested that it may not be an appropriate name, we will put the question forward when we screen our rough cut to a sample of our target audience.
A Cinderella Story was distributed by Warner Brothers. It is similar to our film in that it is about a teen relationship. Warner Brothers is another of 'The Big 6' Hollywood distribution companies that also distributes a number of different genres, including action with Sucker Punch (2011) and Final Destination 5 (2011).
It is very rare to find a distribution company that only distributes films of one particular genre, but Magnet Releasing comes pretty close. It specialises in the distribution of only horror, action, comedy and Asian Cinema, which may not sound particularly genre-specific, but when you consider the number of genres that they do not work with, for example drama, romantic comedy, historical and musical films.
Having done sufficient research and experimentation, as well as the development of certain ideas, such as our 'Lego House Cinema' which we attempted to include a graphic in, but we felt that it did not flow very well and decided to nip our attempts to make it work in the bud, so that we could focus our attention on just one I-dent. we hope to, however, include 'Lego House Cinema' in our credits for our opening.
We chose the title 'Messy Productions' during a small 'brainstorming' session Jessie and I had with each other, and felt that the use of the term 'Messy' links with the theme of the scrapbook and also has connotations of the modern teen lifestyle. It also coincidently was the word used to describe teen relationships by my own mother. We thought that the contrast between the title itself and the simple layout of the I-dent would have an almost oxymoronic quality. We also thought that the title had a similar ironic ring to it as 'Working Title' does, as it would normally give the impression of unfinished or basically assembled piece of film, but the audience that we asked about the name responded that they understood the irony. However, since Miss suggested that it may not be an appropriate name, we will put the question forward when we screen our rough cut to a sample of our target audience.
Filming- Day 1
Here are some photos from our first day of filming. We gat a lot done for one day, including all we needed for Luke and Katy's first date and when they first met. We changed the location from where we originally thought; in our original plan, we were going to go to Wroxton, but since we did not have time to get there before it got dark, we decided to film it at a bench in Bloxham instead, which was very helpful because it was down the road from my house, which is another of the locations in our opening. The cafe was also in Bloxham so that was also easy to get to from my house, which is where we all met to begin filming. I'm really pleased with the progress that we've made in just one day, and I'm sure that when we have a lesson to work on our coursework, with me being such a keen editor, we'll start editing what we've got and then edit in the rest of the footage from another day of filming.
Shot List
Here is our shot list. This tells us the exact order in which we will film. This is especially helpful as we do not plan on shooting the scenes in the order that they will appear in the film opening. As you can see, Jessie and I have equal responsibility when it comes to manning the camera; we have not yet configured who is better at handling it, therefore we felt it would be more democratic to take turns.
Call Sheet
Here are the two call sheets that we used. It was important to use them because it kept the communication between Jessie and I and our two actors, as well as ensuring that the filming process is organised by ensuring that everybody involved knows what location, props and scenes we will use on each day. These sheets have been a great help.
Lights, Camera, Action?
Now that we're almost ready for filming, we need to fill out Risk Assessment Forms and Call Sheets etc. I will post photos from filming, as well as self assessments of how filming days go, and once we have finished that, I will post through the stages of editing.
Our Film in a song!
I found a song on YouTube called 'The Story Of Us' By Taylor Swift, which is what we used as inspiration for the title of the film. In our initial ideas, we proposed that if we were to film an entire film, it would not only be about the relationship of Katy and Luke, but how it broke down; hence (500) Days of Summer being a big inspiration. Later in the film Luke and Katy would see each other again at a school reunion and fall back in love. The beginning would be based just after they broke up, a few years before the reunion, and just after we see the title of the film, we would have filmed a part that says 'Chapter One' and the audience would then see their relationship from the start.
Scrapbook Ideas
Our plan for the scrapbook is to buy a plain scrapbook and then decorate and fill it with photos of Katy and Luke, this will be from Katy's perspective. On the first few pages of the scrapbook will be baby photos of Luke and Katy, over the next two pages will be photos of when the couple first met, then over the next two pages will be photos of the couple on their first date, next will be photos of the couple relaxing together e.g. sat on swings in the park, walking through a park, sat on the sofa, in the garden, and on Luke's motorbike.
We will decorate these pages in the typical teenage girl style (which we both have plenty of experience of doing and have seen many examples) thus making sure it looks like Katy has made it herself. Aswell as having photos of the couple together we will also leave gaps on various pages to insert the film footage during the editing process. We will pan the camera across the scrapbook pages, making sure the viewer is able to see all of the photos before zooming into the still footage and then the footage will begin; this will give the effect of a flashback. After the flashback has ended we will cut back to Katy flicking through the scrapbook and zoom into another piece of footage on a different page; thus depicting her memories of their relationship triggered by her finding the scrapbook. We will also leave some gaps on the pages of the scrapbook for the credits to go, which we will add to the film opening during the editing process. The main title of the film, 'The Story Of Us' will be edited on to the front cover of the scrapbook and the camera will zoom into this at the end of the film opening to lead into the main narrative of the film.
Jessie and I have done plenty of product market research by looking at different types of layouts of scrapbook pages on Google images. We have decided that a typical indie/girlie style would appeal to our target audience, so we are going to include lots of colour, lettering, different shapes and love hearts, this will portray Katy's love for Luke. Here are a few more of our favourite examples of scrapbook layouts that have inspired our decision.
The scrapbook is our main prop so we have spent a lot of time and effort (and money!) in making it look perfect. As it must not only echo the style of our main female protagonist, but it's also our unique tool in documenting the couple's relationship, which is basically the essence of our film opening. Jessie and I have bought a plain brown ring binded scrapbook and spent an afternoon decorating it with photos that we had taken of the characters while we were filming and also the actors' baby photos that we had taken copies of (as we thought this would add a nice personal touch). Here are a couple photos of Jessie and I hard at work doing some scrapbook decorating...
And here is a sample page for our scrapbook, using photographs from the internet to imitate the photographs of Luke and Katy.
Here is also a Video of Jessie and I making the scrapbook on our second day of filming..
And here is a sample page for our scrapbook, using photographs from the internet to imitate the photographs of Luke and Katy.
Here is also a Video of Jessie and I making the scrapbook on our second day of filming..
Location Scouting
We have chosen to shoot our film opening in a cafe, at a park bench, in my bedroom and around the village that I live in, Bloxham.
Cafe: Bread & Milk, Bloxham.
This is the cafe that we will be filming in. We chose for two main reasons: its convenient location and its look. Having visited the cafe many times, I am aware that it is a delightful place that gives a big sense of charm and feels very homely and cute. With its big front window, it lets in a lot of light and it is decorated with trinkets and lots of heart-shaped items, which is everything that we want for a scene in which a teen couple share a hot chocolate after a stroll in the village.
We quickly overcame the obstacle of permission by calling the manager of the cafe and being allowed to film, just as long as it it at a non-busy time of day, so as not to be of an inconvenience to customers. This agreement worked conveniently for both the customers and ourselves, as the interior is rather cosy and so if we were to film-especially with all of our equipment- it would be very difficult. The agreement did, however mean that we would have to ensure we do not leave it too late to set off, as it is a ten to twenty minute walk from my house and the time of year that we are filming means that it turns dark very quickly in the afternoon, and the last thing we want is to not have the light that the cafe boasts at any other time of day.
Park Bench: One of the various around Bloxham
There are many benches around the village that can be of use to us, and we will have to choose on the day which is most suiting. It is very important to keep our options open with locations such as benches, as there are many setbacks that can occur, for example the most obvious being that the bench is occupied by somebody else, the backdrop behind the bench may not be aesthetically pleasing i.e. it may have a bin in it or something to that effect, or the distance from the bench is too great to 'catch' the daylight at.
It is important to ensure we have the right bench in our scene, as this will be the scene in which the framing of the shot will be really noticeable.
We are breaking conventions of typical RomComs with this scene. As most romantic comedies are either set in sun or snow, the fact that autumn leaves will be in the background will be refreshing and vibrant yet warm and cosy; the best of both really! It is also important for the bench scene to make it obvious that the actors are in a countryside setting, in order to tie-in with the rest of the opening and portray a middle to upper-class back-ground that our characters will have, as it would in the TV and film industry.
NEED PICTURES
My Bedroom:
As a teenage girl, conveniently living in amongst the other settings of our film opening, my house and bedroom fits the bill as far as location and look are concerned. We will film the bedroom scene in my room, and if the weather means that we cannot capture all of the footage that we need around the village, we will use the rest of my house to take pictures and/or footage in if we need it. My room lets in a lot of natural light, but I do have a light that mimics daylight should we need it. We will also shoot the turning of the scrapbook pages in my room at my desk, so as not to confuse the audience, should they have noticed a change in location if we were to film that scene at school for example.
NEED PICTURES HERE TOO.
Cafe: Bread & Milk, Bloxham.
Park Bench: One of the various around Bloxham
There are many benches around the village that can be of use to us, and we will have to choose on the day which is most suiting. It is very important to keep our options open with locations such as benches, as there are many setbacks that can occur, for example the most obvious being that the bench is occupied by somebody else, the backdrop behind the bench may not be aesthetically pleasing i.e. it may have a bin in it or something to that effect, or the distance from the bench is too great to 'catch' the daylight at.
It is important to ensure we have the right bench in our scene, as this will be the scene in which the framing of the shot will be really noticeable.
We are breaking conventions of typical RomComs with this scene. As most romantic comedies are either set in sun or snow, the fact that autumn leaves will be in the background will be refreshing and vibrant yet warm and cosy; the best of both really! It is also important for the bench scene to make it obvious that the actors are in a countryside setting, in order to tie-in with the rest of the opening and portray a middle to upper-class back-ground that our characters will have, as it would in the TV and film industry.
NEED PICTURES
My Bedroom:
As a teenage girl, conveniently living in amongst the other settings of our film opening, my house and bedroom fits the bill as far as location and look are concerned. We will film the bedroom scene in my room, and if the weather means that we cannot capture all of the footage that we need around the village, we will use the rest of my house to take pictures and/or footage in if we need it. My room lets in a lot of natural light, but I do have a light that mimics daylight should we need it. We will also shoot the turning of the scrapbook pages in my room at my desk, so as not to confuse the audience, should they have noticed a change in location if we were to film that scene at school for example.
NEED PICTURES HERE TOO.
Treatment Sheet
This is a treatment sheet, which is basically an outline of our ideas for our opening. It features information about the storyline and themes of the opening along with the way in which we want our audience to receive the film, details on the location, main characters, mise en scene, the editing and camera work. This sheet will be very helpful to us throughout both the filming and editing process, as it will remind us of our original ideas which, although I am aware will change, allow us not to forget or diffract from what we originally plan.
Thursday, 10 November 2011
Target Audience Pitch Response
We played our film concept presentation to 5 teenage girls that fall directly into our target audience and asked them for their feedback on the film opening as a whole.
More to come!
Having done a rough outline of what our film will entail, we will now be doing more in-depth research into the factors of our film , for example target audience, costume, location, props, credits and the soundtrack/score.
Film Concept Powerpoint
This is a powerpoint of everything we have thought of so far to do with our film concept.
Film concept powerpoint.
View more presentations from Molly Stirton
Tuesday, 1 November 2011
Film Openings Powerpoint
Here is a powerpoint of some background research of film openings
Film openings AS Media
View more presentations from Molly Stirton
Friday, 14 October 2011
Monday, 3 October 2011
Preliminary Task
Ok, so after a fair few issues (e.g somebody deleting all of our clips because a member of our team failed to set up the memory card) we have finally got all of the scenes filmed and the voiceover, so next lesson we can start editing- two hours worth of work behind the rest of the class. There are certain things that i have learnt about myself during this task, including that i work best in a pair rather than a big group, and that i have to express my ideas and thoughts more thoroughly in order for the other members in my group to understand me, rather than me just saying "I'm handling this" and leaving it all to myself rather than splitting responsibility. I am quite confident that me and another member of my group whom i work particularly well with will get this task finished and produce something hopefully more than half-decent! I know that this task was not marked or counted towards anything, but i took it as seriously as if it did, unlike a couple of other members of my group, but that's OK, because now i know who i work best with, and who i intend on working with for our official task.
Wednesday, 21 September 2011
We're all in this together..(How cheesy?!)
So we all decided to go with the trainee teacher interview concept. We're currently drawing up a story board, then on Friday we're filming everything for it. I'm pretty confident that we'll be able to pull it off because our team seems to be working well together at the moment.. I just hope it stays that way! I know that i have a tendency to get a bit controlling and bossy sometimes so I'm trying really hard not to overpower other people and it seems to be going well but i think it will be really challenging to resist when we start filming! Our group is one of the bigger ones so it'll be easy for someone who isn't particularly confident to fade into the background, but I want to make sure that everyone gets a chance to express their ideas, otherwise we'll have one or two people doing everything and that's not how a successful and productive team works.
Monday, 19 September 2011
Preliminary Work
Not bad for a first go...
We just finished doing our first practice movie. It was a promotional video of the school (Chenderit) and i would say that we just about pulled it off..
We set out with loads of ideas that were really impractical, especially for a short practise film, and in the end we got a very short montage which was completely different to what we originally planned.
I definitely would say that the experience taught me a lot about working in a group as well as the skills involved with making a movie. Our group was originally a 3 but for the last couple of lessons, it was a 4. Luckily for us, we had a student who had already done media for GCSE and wanted to be a director in the future. Unluckily for us, however, he wasn't in the lesson in which we collected footage, so me and the other member of my team collected what we could, but it was difficult to do what we had originally planned, so we filmed what we could) and hoped that it would be enough- it wasn't.
I learned a lot from this project. The main things would be:
We set out with loads of ideas that were really impractical, especially for a short practise film, and in the end we got a very short montage which was completely different to what we originally planned.
I definitely would say that the experience taught me a lot about working in a group as well as the skills involved with making a movie. Our group was originally a 3 but for the last couple of lessons, it was a 4. Luckily for us, we had a student who had already done media for GCSE and wanted to be a director in the future. Unluckily for us, however, he wasn't in the lesson in which we collected footage, so me and the other member of my team collected what we could, but it was difficult to do what we had originally planned, so we filmed what we could) and hoped that it would be enough- it wasn't.
I learned a lot from this project. The main things would be:
- Whether to work in a team or not
- How to manage time
- Planning is important!
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