Research And Planning: Filming at Connors (23/12/11)

Today, I did my filming at Connors house with Hannah. We all met in Hyde as organised at 10:30 and we started filming at 11am. Today's filming was quite succesful! It went better than the first time I tried and I got alot of useable footage filmed. Hopefully, after watching it back, I can use the footage I have and won't have to go back and do even more.

On the other hand, I'm a bit worried since the lighting of the room turned a bit yellow/red later on and I'm scared how this will effect the clip when I piece everything together.

All in all, it was a successful day, since I have something to work with now.

Research And Planning: 23rd December Organising

Plan For Filming On The 23rd December!

Film Destination: Connor's House

Film Time: Meet at 10:30

What I need to do: 

• Get in touch with Connor And Hannah Thursday night to remind them and ask if it's still OK.
• Remind Hannah of what I need her to bring. 
• Charge the video camera.

What I need to bring: 

• Camera and tripod.
• Planning sheets stating what I need to film.
• My filming tape, charger etc. 
• Tracksuit bottoms
• Make up for Hannah. 

I have been working out, this morning, what shots I definitely want to take whilst at Connors! I've made another word document, showing these ideas.

Research And Planning: Christmas Holiday Organizing.

Saturday 17th December: Connor has gotten intouch with me today to tell me that he is free for filming either Monday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday next week. Hannah said she's only working on weekends so I'm going to try and arrange to meet up on Wednesday.

Sunday 18th December: I got a response back from Hannah today. She's been called into work Wednesday and Thursday. Therefore I've asked whether she can do it Friday 23rd December. She is fine with this, and I've just heard from Connor and he says he's fine with it.

Therefore I am now filming at Location 4 (Connor's House) on Friday 23rd December. We're going to meet at Hyde Bus station at 10:30am and hopefully start filming at 11am.

I've asked Hannah to bring:
*TRAINERS
*HER PLAIN BLACK HOODY (Although, I will bring mine as well)
*HER LONG SLEEVED DARK TOP
*A PLAIN TOP


I'm going to bring her:
* Some black baggy tracksuit bottoms which will hopefully give the impression that she's in a state.
* Some darker eye make up which I can use to make her look like she has bags under her eyes.

Connor has a small lamp which I am going to use during this scene. And I've asked whether I can use his laptop.

I'm in the process of planning this internet scene. I've decided, instead of trying to redesign a website, I'm going to have a black screen and a message from the villain is going to appear on the screen. This will make it easier for me. I've been doing some research though on what my character is going to type into google.

I've found that if you type in 'Why can I see things others can't' into Google the following appears.

Then originally I was going to get her to go onto the 4th website, since this is what's brought up when you go on it.

In the last paragraph the words; depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia are used. Therefore I thought that it would be a good site to use. But as I said, I have now changed my mind and have decided to make a message appear on the black screen from the villain.

Research and Planning: My magazine front cover

This is the first draft of my magazine and I'm not impressed at the moment. I think that the skulls at the bottom make it look really unprofessional. In addition, I think without the test shots, it's really difficult to imagine whether the layout will work or not. I like the effect of the writing 'The Unseen' and how it fades out in places, but I'm unsure if it will work once a picture is beneath it and whether the picture will drown it out. I also feel that the title and the top part of the page looks too plain, although which a picture, this could change.

Research and Planning: Magazine Cover Confusion

 I have been trying to start my magazine cover recently but because my title can have two meanings I wanted to manipulate the writing into having a clapper board in the background and with the font I had chosen this was difficult. Therefore I tested another idea.

I like the crispness of this design, although I'm unsure where to go with it. 

Although I like this idea because I could manipulate it to look like a clapper board, I don't think it stands out as well.

Research And Planning: Getting Angela Ready For Filming

 As I did the make up for Angela, Hannah took some pictures with the camera to show the process.

Research And Planning: Filming at Location 1 (8/12/11)

Today I started filming my trailer and I learnt two things.

1. How difficult it is.
2. How many times I'm probablly going to have to shoot the same thing.

I was hoping to get the basics of my filming at location 1 done today. Things didn't work out as easy as I hoped though. Sorting make up and costumes out, whilst still thinking about shots and picturing it in your head, filming adn directing all at the same time in only 30 mins is REALLY hard!!!
I will have to watch clips back anyway and see what I can use.
Next week, I'm thinking of working a lot with the tripod because, the thought that needs to go into it is just huge! You don't realise until you have the shots in front of you and all the high and low angles with the tripod infront of you. I definately need more practice!!! I WILL WORK ON THIS

Research And Planning: Plan for 8/12/11

I created a plan on a word document last night so that I knew what I needed to have ready for today. This ensured that I was prepared and that I wasn't going to forget anything.

Research and Planning: Filming At Connors

I have decided to film the scene at Connors in the Christmas holidays, but Connor is working quite a bit before Christmas, but not everyday. Therefore he is going to email me his timetable in the next few days.
I will upload this onto my blog and will talk about any arrangements that I make.

Research and Planning: Organising For Film Shooting

I have found out that it's really difficult to shoot my film trailer as I've have to bear a lot of things in mind when doing it so that everyone can attend. As already discussed, my locations, except one needs to be shot in college. But I have a few problems.

1. Angela has no free lessons so that limits us.
2. Hannah has none of the same frees as me, therefore I can't shoot the doctor scene either. 
3. Tuesdays at dinner Steven can't make it. 
4. Tuesdays and Wednesdays Angela can't do any shooting because she's doing revision sessions. 
5. This week its been mock week, so everything has been really hectic.
6. Its parents evening tomorrow night so I can't do any filming after college on Thursday.
7. Fridays after college, isn't appropriate for Hannah because she works straight after college 

AND WE FINISH FOR CHRISTMAS NEXT THURSDAY!

Research and Planning: Make Up Failure

Today in media, I brought in the make up creams that I bought. The black worked really well, where as the white was terrible and as you can see below the white can't be seen.

Therefore we are going to improvise and work with the black and eye liner etc. Hannah may have some face paints we can use, and Ryan has said he may have some powder.

Research and Planning: Clothing For Hannah.

Hannah is playing my victim in my teaser trailer. Her costumes consist of:

1 - The surgical gown.
2 -  Casual clothing and jeans for in the bathroom
3 - Same clothing - but wrapped up in a coat.
4 - Baggy hoodie, jeans or tracksuit bottoms.
5 - All in white.

These are some pictures of the casual clothing that Hannah took with her camera. They are quite blurred but they still show what kind of clothes there are.

 I felt that the black and pink clothing was too dark for the happier scene at the beginning. I am going to use the bambi top for that scene because it suggests innocence and happiness.

 This is one example of casual clothing that a typical teenage girl would have/wear.

 This was the alternative to the hoody, I may make her wear this under the hoody.

 I think this is a nice idea to use for the casual clothing at the start, but I then decided that it doesn't look as happy and feminine as some of the others.

I was thinking of using this for the baggy clothing originally, but then I found out that she also has a plain black hoody which I would prefer her to use.

Research and Planning: Plan Of The Week

This week I am going to:

• Start shooting my trailer this week. I am planning on doing the toilet scene tomorrow
• Add pictures of casual clothing for Hannah.
• Add make up test pictures of the creams. 

Research and Planning: Prop Organising

Because I have a plan for my shooting, I need to try and work with it, therefore I need to make sure that I am allowed to have the scalpels on the date that I have put on the shooting schedule. After saying that, I will have to make sure that I have sorted it out definitely with my characters so that I am not messing them about.

Research and Planning: Shooting Schedule

I have given this printout to Hannah and Angela. I am going to go and see the Law teacher at dinner since he has been teaching every time I've tried.

I have just found out that we are off on the 16/12/11. Therefore, I may have to film that part when I come back in January.

Research and Planning: Additional Auditions.

The main character in my trailer is the young girl who has no eyesight. I want this to be played by a young college girl. Therefore, I have included 2 more auditions in this post. 

Lucy auditioned first.

 

 Keisha auditioned second

 

Both girls auditioned very well, although both girls are busy quite a lot in the next couple of weeks/ next month which would probably become a problem.

Research and Planning: Costume Update!

Today I took the dress in lesson that I want my villain character to wear, to make sure that it fits Angela OK. Luckily this was successful!

Over the weekend, Angela is going to do two hairstyles at home, and I have asked her to take a picture of them for next lesson, so that I can gain a larger visual idea of what I need my villain to look like.

 

Research And Planning: Production/Distribution Company Names

In my trailer there will be a image of both a Production company logo, and a Distribution company logo. For my teaser trailer I will have to decide on a name for both of these and in addition, design their logo.

Idea's For Production And Distribution Names:

• Warning Productions
• Haunted Pictures
• Stormy Films
• Red Eye Pictures/Distribution
• Hazard Productions

For my Production Company, I have decided on Warning Productions.
For my Distribution Company, I have decided on Red Eye Distribution

Research And Planning: Font Ideas For Film Magazine

 I like the font below and above quite a lot. I think I like the one below more because it's not as long and it looks bolder but in general, both would probablly work well.

I think that this font looks too long and because it's only a short title, I don't want the masthead to use up too much room on the front page. 

I think that this font is too narrow to be a masthead as I don't feel it will stand out enough, although I could make it fatter on Photoshop. 

I'm unsure whether this font is unsuitable for a film magazine. I like it overall, but I don't think it looks like a film magazine font, or it looks strong enough for a masthead. 

I love this font, and how bold it is and how well it stands out, but I dont like the additional black fill that is shown on the 'K' as I don't feel it looks right which is a shame.  

I like the film vibe of this font. I think it's because it gives off that film reel idea. On the other hand, I am unsure if it will look right on my magazine but this is something I could work with in Photoshop.

Research and Planning: Font Ideas For Film Poster

I LOVE this font. I think it's a shame that the blur on specific letters isn't more obvious. I could manipulate this though in Photoshop or maybe feather it so it gives the effect that I used on my audition poster. Overall I really like this font.

I experimented with this font. I thought that if I put a black background behind it, it would give a nice effect, but the writing doesn't have a white fill, it just takes the fill of whatever the background is. As a result of this, I don't think that this font is very suitable. 

I wanted to try this font out to see how it looked. I like the style but I'm not sure if it fits my film very well. I was thinking of feathering the top of the font so that part of it is hidden and it gets stronger as it goes down. But I'm unsure whether it will work. 

I like this font because of the distortion that has been added to it. On the other hand, I'm unsure if it's too much and if it wouldn't stand out enough on a film poster. 

Research and Planning: Plan Of The Week

 This week I am hoping to get the rest of my planning sorted so that I can hopefully start filming next week. This is what I want to complete:

• I want to get the other two audition forms filled out. 
• I want to look at the different fonts for my magazine and film poster. 
• I need to get a couple more people to audition for my trailer. 

Research and Planning: Actor Release Forms

This the actor release form for Angela Pearson who is playing my villain.

This is the actor release form for Steven who is playing the Doctor. 

 This is the actor release form for Hannah who is playing my victim.

This has been filled out so that the college, nor myself can get in trouble for filming her during my trailer.

Research and Planning: Film Magazine Analysis 3

Because I got the genre wrong on one of my film analysis', I'm going to write another one.

 

* You can tell this is a film magazine because of the traditional conventions that have been used. These consist of:

• A masthead which has the biggest font out of everything on the page. 
• A barcode
• Usually Total Film magazine has a tag line but on this issue, it doesn't. 
• The main story
• The issue number and date of release
• Other stories
• There website

* You can tell that it's a horror film because of the main image. You can see that there's blood dripping from the girls hands which instantly gives us that idea. 

* The colours consist of white, red and blue. Red generally is considered to be a colour related to death and pain. Also the words that have been used on the page. The story on the right hand side has been called 'The Deadly Megan Fox' which gives us the impression that it is advertising a horror film.

* The magazine is targeted, in my opinion at a younger audience. This is because of the character we can see looks as though she's a college student because of her costume being a cheerleaders outfit. Therefore it would target people between the ages of 15-18 most.

* Females will be targeted more with this film. Again this is the idea because of the character shown on the front cover. In contrast with this, males might watch the film because they might objectify her with her being in a cheerleader outfit.

* The masthead stands out the most on the cover as it is the darkest and largest font on the whole page. In addition, the long shot of the character shows more of an insight into what part of the narrative is.

Research and Planning: Location Recce 5

This post includes a Location Recce for the corridor that is representing the mental asylum. There is also a risk assessment document that I've included.

Research and Planning: Location Recce 4

This post includes a location recce for Connors house and it also includes a risk assessment document.

Research and Planning: Location Recce 3

This post will include a location recce and a risk assessment document for the clips with Angela's car.

Research and Planning: Location Recce 2

This post includes a location recce and a risk assessment document of another location that I will be using in my film trailer.

Here is a video that I have taken so that you can see the room at a better angle. 

Research and Planning: Plan Of The Week

The plan for this week is to get some of the production documents completely out of the way. These are the tasks I want to complete this week:

• Finish off uploading the video's and pictures from Connor's and talk about the pro's and cons about them. 
• Get a video audition of my victim character and upload that on the 'Scripts' post.
• Do a risk assessment document and add it to the 'Location 1' post. 
• Do the rest of my location recce's and risk assessments for location 2 (the hospital room), location 3 (Angela's car), location 4 (Connors house) and location 5 (the corridor for the mental asylum

AFTER HAVING MY TEACHER FEEDBACK I ALSO NEED TO INCLUDE ANOTHER FILM ANALYSIS BECAUSE THE GENRE OF THE SECOND WASN'T CLEAR AND DOESN'T FIT MY FILM TRAILER GENRE.

Research And Planning: Update!

Today I went to Connors to look at the possible filming locations. There were 4 rooms in which I looked at:

• Connors room
• His Mums room
• His younger sisters room
• His younger brothers room. 

Originally I was going to use his younger sisters room, but after looking at it, it's too young for the character of Hannah.

 I then looked at his younger brothers room, since the wallpaper doesn't give away that it's a boys room too much. But I felt that it still didn't look suitable. In addition, there wasn't a lot of space for moving around which may have become an issue when filming.

Next I looked in Connors room. I like the effect of this room, there's a lot of room to film which will make it easier to get all the different angles and shot types in. Plus the bedding and wall paper could be used for either a male or female character so this wouldn't be an issue.

Lastly I looked at his Mums room, again, this was an ideal room to shoot in as it gave off an elder feel to it. A problem with this room is that there is a mirror facing where I would be filming which could be an issue and make things more complicated. In addition, I don't think the character would necessarily have a double bed.