Filming 1/12/15

On the First of December we will be returning to Chestnuts Primary School for our second day of shooting, and aim to complete all of the remaining shots that need this location.

PLANNING - Aims for Wednesday, 2nd of December

• Our group has decided to return to Chestnuts Primary School on Tuesday, 1st of December to complete shooting all of the necessary shots there. 
• We plan to leave for the location at 14:45-15:00, and hope to arrive at the location at 15:35. 
• We will leave at 18:00.
• On the 2nd of December, we will review our footage and cut together a rough sequence, leaving gaps for the few remaining shots in different locations.

PLANNNG - Test Shots (TO BE FIXED)

The main aim of the practice shots was to be able to get a good level of quality out of our footage in low-light. I think this was successful straight away, but the first shots weren't very interestingly lit, with the light shining directly at Esther. To remedy this, we had some shots were the light hit from above, casting a sinister shadow, which was much more in tune with the aim of the film. We are happy with the results and feel more confident with implementing this into our actual production.

Filming 25/11/2015 - Esther

Today we will be filming all the shots in red

Shot 1 - Wide establishing shot - abandoned room, a layer of dust covering everything
Shot 2 - Close up - candles, one lit and flickering, camera focused on it, others in the background.
Shot 3 - Low close up - girls shoes walking steadily
Shot 4 - Wide shot - Girl walking steadily, candle in one hand and matchbox in the other
Shot 5 -Wide walking shot - Male assassin striding down a nondescript corridor
Shot 6 - Tracking shot - Girl walking over to candles and placing the one in her hand on the floor
Shot 7 - Cut in - male assassin torso, at an angle
Shot 8 - Extreme close up - match being lit, lingering on flame
Shot 9 - Wide shot - Girl bending over the candles, lighting them and blowing the match out
Shot 10 - Low angle shot - Male assassin striding down corridor
Shot 11 - Angled over candle shot - Girl pulls knees to chest and rests her chin on them, candles front of shot. Pull focus from candles to girl
Shot 12 - Worms eye view - Male assassin climbing stairs
Shot 13 - Wide shot - Girl watching candles, loud bang
Shot 14  - Extreme close up on eye, pupils dilating
Shot 15 - Mid close up - Girl rises quickly and begins blowing out the candles. Her bag falls of her shoulders
Shot 16 - Close up tracking shot - Girl rushing, throwing everything clumsily back into the bag
Shot 17 - Suddenly a black screen, no fade in. Silence
Shot 18 - Fade into tracking shot - from bag still on floor to remaining candle. Stay on candle in wide shot - Man's feet walk into shot over to the candle and begins bending down.
Shot 19 - Close up tracking shot - Man brings candle to face and blows the candle out. Smoke lingers on black screen, outline of candle still visible

Pitch feedback - Storyboard final - Esther

The feedback we received said that our storyboard wasn't long enough to give us 2 minutes worth of title sequence.

To fix this we will be adding in some more shots, and integrating them into our old storyboard. The results are below.

Storyboard by Slidely Slideshow


Shot 1 - Wide establishing shot - abandoned room, a layer of dust covering everything
Shot 2 - Close up - candles, one lit and flickering, camera focused on it, others in the background.
Shot 3 - Low close up - girls shoes walking steadily
Shot 4 - Wide shot - Girl walking steadily, candle in one hand and matchbox in the other
Shot 5 -Wide walking shot - Male assassin striding down a nondescript corridor
Shot 6 - Tracking shot - Girl walking over to candles and placing the one in her hand on the floor
Shot 7 - Cut in - male assassin torso, at an angle
Shot 8 - Extreme close up - match being lit, lingering on flame
Shot 9 - Wide shot - Girl bending over the candles, lighting them and blowing the match out
Shot 10 - Low angle shot - Male assassin striding down corridor
Shot 11 - Angled over candle shot - Girl pulls knees to chest and rests her chin on them, candles front of shot. Pull focus from candles to girl
Shot 12 - Worms eye view - Male assassin climbing stairs
Shot 13 - Wide shot - Girl watching candles, loud bang
Shot 14  - Extreme close up on eye, pupils dilating
Shot 15 - Mid close up - Girl rises quickly and begins blowing out the candles. Her bag falls of her shoulders
Shot 16 - Close up tracking shot - Girl rushing, throwing everything clumsily back into the bag
Shot 17 - Suddenly a black screen, no fade in. Silence
Shot 18 - Fade into tracking shot - from bag still on floor to remaining candle. Stay on candle in wide shot - Man's feet walk into shot over to the candle and begins bending down.
Shot 19 - Close up tracking shot - Man brings candle to face and blows the candle out.Smoke lingers on black screen, outline of candle still visible

Pitch Feedback

Pitch prezi

Production schedule

Storyboard 1st Draft - Esther

Sound Design (Faris) PITCH PLANNING

Diegetic and Non-Diegetic

There will be both diegetic and non-diegetic sound in the film, The breathing of the character will be diegetic. The footsteps, items dropping, doors shutting close, floors creaking and things of that nature will be non-diegetic. 

Influence

Title sequences like Gone Girl have influence me a lot because it tells the story by not giving to much away. The soundtrack and non-diegetic sound gives the viewer this uneasy feeling that makes them question what the hell is about to happen. This effect is what I'll be trying to recreate, I'll be trying to make the viewer question everything that is going onscreen, look for clues to piece together to help them understand the movie better. I'll achieve this by laying sound in top of sound, for example have the sound of the clock ticking whilst also having the sound of something dropping playing. 

Soundscape

Institutional Task (Faris) PITCH PLANNING

Production Type 

We are going to go with a mainstream production and distribution company,  We decided this due to our genre being thriller, a lot of thriller films are mainstream like Gone Girl, Psycho, Taken, Memento and Black Swan. They were all made by a well know production company and distributed by a company that understood the audience they were trying to attract. 

What we went with

We are going with 20th century fox as they have a track record of backing many movies within the thriller genre. Another reason we picked them was for their ability to reach a larger audience , if we went with an independent film distribution company they wouldn't have similar type of funding that we'd prefer as our films aim distribution wise is to reach as large of an audience as possible.

Other Companies

Other similar companies would be Lions Gate, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayoer(MGM),Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures and Warner Bros. These are all big distribution companies who know exactly how to attract a certain type of audience for a specific type of film.

Lions Gate: The hunger game series, Warm Bodies, Step up and John Wick

MGM: skyfall, The pink panther and Hannibal 

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures: Frozen, Inside out, The Avengers and Wall-E

Warner Bros: Mad Max, The Harry Potter series, Inception and The Matrix

Issue

The only issue with these big companies is they will require a lot of on screen time during the title sequence which will limit us on how much we can put in it ourselves. By that I mean we will get less time to hints towards what the movie is about and less time for credits.

                                                           

The Type of Title Sequence - Jan

Chestnuts Primary School - Location 1 - Callum

After 6 long years, I returned to Chestnuts Primary School.

As you saw before, I had contacted the Headteacher originally about using the Second Floor Hall as a backup location.

So I went and the very nice office lady, Tara, showed me around:

Unfortunately, there was a problem with this setting: It was obviously, and unavoidably a Primary School. However well we organised the scene, it was going to have the feel of a School.

However, Tara came to the rescue. She suggested the Basement - out of the way of the children, isolated, ancient, dark, large, and easily reorganised. So I went down and took some photos:

Having conferred with Esther (Location Manager), we have come to the conclusion that this is the best option for our setting. Not only is it convenient, it also fits the type of Title Sequence we want to make. Tara said that we can used it any time Monday to Friday from 9AM till 6PM, as long as we inform the Site Manager. There is the safety issue of the low ceilings (an issue for Faris and I), and bumps in the ground like this:

But as long as we are careful, no accidents should occur. 

Location 1: 

Chestnuts Primary School

Black Boy Lane

South Tottenham

N15 3AS

LOCATION SUMMARY (Pitch Planning) - Esther

Main location

Original location

Originally, we wanted to use The Bussey Building Warehouse Space.

However, we were informed that this would not be available for us to use

Back up

Our back up location was Bruce castle in Tottenham 

We have contacted them

and heard this back

However, since as of today, 16/11/15, we have not yet heard any more from Bruce castle, so have had to make other plans.

Second back up - current location we will use

Our second back up is Chestnuts Primary School

We have confirmation that we can use part of the school

Callum has visited this site and it is perfect for our first location, so this is the one we will use. See Callum's post for more information

Location 2

Original

Our location of choice is Essex Road station

Issues include not being able to use a tripod - only a fig rig. It is also a fairly busy station, so we would have to go out of rush hour.

Although it would probably be fine, we need a back up location



Back up
Our back up location is the Greenwich foot tunnel

Location 1 Backup - Chestnuts Primary School - Callum

Because I got political connections everywhere, I was able to get the Headteacher of my Primary School's number, and so I got in contact with her about using the 2nd Floor Hall:

I'm going to go in tomorrow to organise dates and outline our plan.

Location 1 Backup 2 (Pitch Planning) - Esther

We need an alternative back up, incase we cannot use Bruce Castle. Online I found a warehouse available for filming, and have emailed the company responsible for it.

http://www.filmoffice.co.uk/hackney/bare-brick-warehouse.aspx

Target Audience Member Profile - Callum and Jan

Idea for Title Sequence

Recently, I was watching the TV, and came across an advert which I thought we could take aspects from for our title sequence. It's the 2015 advert for the Audi R8:

I really like the use of the extreme close up on the eyes, where the pupils dilate and contract. I believe we can do this by focusing light on our actor. Hopefully this will be beneficial to our title sequence.

Location 1 - Continued (Pitch planning) - Esther

Unfortunately we received the information that we could not use our original location we had wished to use. 

We have also contacted  Bruce Castle in Tottenham, and are hopeful that we shall hear positive news soon.

Location 1 Backup Progress (Pitch Planning) - Callum

Location 2 Back Up (Pitch Planning) - Esther

Our backup for our second location is the Greenwich foot tunnel.

This also would create an excellent atmosphere, and we could film with no issues.

Risk Assessment (reconsidered) - Callum

Location 1 Back-Up

As a group, we are also looking for an alternative location: Bruce Castle in Tottenham. We've emailed the museum services and Haringey council to get permission to use it, and hope to hear back soon.

Location 2 (Pitch Planning) - Esther

Location 2

We have decided to use Essex Road train station as our second location. It fits with our theme, and the low lighting would provide an ideal atmosphere

However, there are a few issues:

• It's a busy station, so we would have to go at a quiet time
• We wouldn't be able to use a tripod, only a fig rig 

It would still be worth going and getting a few shots (we only want 2 shots in the final) as long as we had carefully planned what we wanted. Due to the issues, we need to have a backup plan.

Title credits (Pitch Planning) - Esther

Pitch Planning Location 1 - Esther

Location 1 - The Bussey Building Warehouse Space

Found through website somewhereto.com, The Bussey Building Warehouse Space is a perfect fit for our thriller film opening sequence. I have gotten in contact with them through email and the online booking system, and hope to hear back soon. In the meantime, I am looking for a back up option in case of issues with this one.

Draft Presentation (Planning)

Analysis on use of sound in student title sequence

Favourite

I think this thriller title sequence uses a wide variety of sound well, for example:

• The ominous background music creating suspense
• The sound of the camera shutter, fitting in with the main theme and also adding a sense of mystery - the audience wonders why the man is photographing them
• the digetic sound of the car rolling up and the door slamming - it helps suspend disbelief
• The added sound effects of birds which helps to establish the natural location

What was not so good was:

• The speech from the radio was mostly unclear so although this added to the atmosphere it was harder to understand what was going on. Also sometimes the audio from the radio did not match up with the actors speaking

My least favourite

What I thought went well includes:

• The background music which really helped to set the suspenseful tone
• The added in sound effects of the birds which helped to establish the location and added to the atmosphere
• The kettle boiling
• The noises made by the actor, including the heavy breathing even when she was not in shot - it helped to suspend disbelief and set the scene

What did not go as well:

• The splattering sound from the knocked over cup did not match up with the video
• There was not as much variety with sound, so it was not as interesting nor attention grabbing

Analysis of Sound in Previous Student Work: EMBERS

As we have just finished our final sequence, I am now able to appreciate the difficulties of editing sound. With that in mind, I am now going to analyse the use of sound in a previous student's work, using "EMBERS" as the example.

Opening moments:
The titles crackle, loudly. This is jarring, startling the audience, which sets a precedent for the rest of the sequence and the tone of the whole film.

Introduction of the character:
Loud droning in the background juxtaposed by unrealistically loud weeping and breathing from the lead character creates a sense of claustrophobia and distress. It's immediately clear to the audience that something has happened and it has placed the character into a situation of fear and confusion, as well as shock. He's unable to think clearly.

Running through the forest:
Adding very quiet sound effects of the enivornment (twigs snapping, brushing past leaves, etc.) only adds to the above atmosphere - the character is in an environment but seems oddly disconnected from it in his mind.

The fight:
The boy who is attacking the main character is shouting at the top of his voice, yet the audience (who is viewing the moment subjectively through the eyes of the main character) doesn't hear it like that. Instead the shouts are muffled, and echoing in the background, suggesting that our main character is unfocussed, shocked, struggling to think.

Risk Assessment - Callum

Mise-En-Scene - Props/Costumes - Callum

Sound Analysis - Other Students

Genre of Film (PLANNING FOR PRESENTATION) - Callum

Title Sequence Idea - Icarus

ICARUS

Script

Abandoned building. Begin with an extra wide establishing shot of room. A layer of dust covers everything. There is silence, except for the ticking of a clock. Close up on some candles flickering, as some slow creepy music like that of a music box begins . Low close up on a girls shoes, as she walks at a slow pace. Wide shot of her walking steadily, a shoulder bag on her side and an unlit candle in one hand, a match box in the other. 

Switch to walking shot of male assassin striding through a corridor.

She reaches the other candles and a tracking shot as she bends down to a crouch and puts her candle on the floor. Close up of match box being lit and lingering shot on the lit match. Digetic sound of match being struck. Girl bends over candles and lights them, blowing out the match afterwards. Angled shot of her sat back, drawing her knees to her chest and resting her chin on them, sighing as she gazes at the flickering lights just visible in shot.

Switch back to male assassin climbing some stairs

 A loud bang is heard. The music becomes more intense and erratic. The girl rises quickly and begins blowing out all the candles, looking over her shoulder worriedly. There is one candle left. Her bag falls, its contents of papers and other junk spilling out onto the floor. She goes to pick them up, rushing as she shoves everything quickly back into the bag. Suddenly cut to black, music stopping suddenly. Silence. Fade back into shot, a tracking shot from the bag still on the floor, to the remaining candle. A man picks it up. Tracking shot as he brings it to his face, but we can only see from the bottom of his nose down. He blows the candle out. The smoke from the candle fades.

Sounds - 3 Samples

SOUNDS

Sample 1:






We would use this if we had a car that was going to drive away, and as an easy way to suggest that a person is moving away without having to show it.


Sample 2:



This sound can be used for a variety of things. For example, it could be the sound of a ship horn. Also, it could be used as sound that isn't part of the scene to add some drama.


Sample 3:

 

The sound of incoming trains is very effective when used a scene that is either close to train tracks or next to a train station. The sound could also be used more abstractly, such as to build tension or to represent the engine of a mysterious ship. Alternatively, it could be used to show a person about to die if they're tied to a train track.

BLOGGING HEALTH CHECK 1

The biggest problem with my blog work so far is not the quality of the work (most of the time, at least), but my speed. I work too slowly and fall behind on certain blog posts, which means that I'm often struggling to keep up. To improve, I'll need to pick up my pace and catch up with blog work that I haven't finished during workshops.

Why is sound so important in film (RESEARCH) TO BE FINISHED

Analyse 3 title sequence of chosen genre - Looking at Macro elements, Micro elements and Order of Credits (RESEARCH)

Macro
Storyline: The plot isn't clear from the start but you do get the sense that it's about a husband that has lost his wife.
Key themes: love, manipulation, control and mystery
Characters: We see the wife first after the IDENTS then the husband is shown standing outside a house.
Social Class: Upper middle class

Micro
Camera: The first few shots were all still shots then it used a pan over landscapes. The camera didn't move much and i believe this to be effective as it adds to the mystery of it all.
Editing: The straight cuts between the shots were very quick and little animation was used in this, it was only used for the title and credit.
Sound: The music was very consistent, there was very little diegetic sound throughout the title sequence as it was mostly music. towards the end you  are able to hear the ambient sound surrounding the male character standing outside the house.
Mis-en-scene: Dark looking locations, very plain looking clothing

Order of Credits:

• 20th Century Fox
• Regency 
• Ben Affleck
• Rosamund Pike 
• Gone Girl
• Neil Patrick Harrison 
• Tyler Perry 
• Carrie Coon
• Kim Dickens 
• Patrick Fugit 
• David Clennon
• Lisa Banes
• Casting by 
• Sound design by 
• Music by
• Costume Design by
• Film Director 
• Production Designer 
• Director of Photography 
• Produced by 
• Based on the novel 
• Directed by 

Clink this link to see the Title Sequence for The Usual Suspects



Macro

Storyline: You can't tell what the movie is about because it isn't made very clear at the start

Key themes: Mystery, Creepy, Ominous and 

Characters: There aren't any characters shown at the beginning so you aren't show what type of direction this title sequence is going in.

Social Class: You can't tell the social class based on the title sequence due to it having no characters  or location being shown.

Macro
Camera: There is only a single shot and its a pan over what seems to be a river.
Editing: There aren't any cuts between shots because there is only one during the title sequence if you exclude the idents, the only form of editing i saw was the title's being faded in and out.
Sound: The soundscape seems to be very dark and gritty and has a creepy feel to it, which makes you wonder as to whats going to happen next but keeps you guessing during the title sequence since there aren't any characters or location being shown.
Mis-En-Scene:Night time, dark and suspicious looking location.

Order of Credits:

Polygram Filmed Entertainment
Spelling Films International
A blue parrot/ bad hat harry production
Byan Singer's Film
The Usual Suspects
Stephen Baldwin
Gabriel Bryne
Chazz Palminteri
Kevin Pollak
Pete Postlethwaite
Kevin Spacey
Also Starring
Suzy Amis
Giancarlo Esposito
Benicio Del Toro
Dan Hedaya
Casting By
Music by
Costume Design by
Production Design By
Edited By
Co-Producer
Written By
Produced By
Directed By

PLANNING - Individual Idea/Title Sequence Outline