Filming

On Wednesday 21/12/11, I completed all of the filming for my social drama opening sequence, filming with Michael Blundell-Lithco, Will Prentice, Jack Hubbard and Jack Stevens.
As I can't edit properly until the holidays are over, I have uploaded the clips onto 'Windows Movie Maker', and have done the best I can in terms of fade to blacks and timing. So far, I am quite pleased with how it is turning out and hope it looks even better once uploaded onto the macs.

There were no major problems with filming, apart from having to re film a certain sequence on the Wednesday, which had originally been done on the Monday. This was down to the camera quality and the weather we faced. I overcame these problems by simply filming at a different point in the day, and replacing the camera I was using. 

               

The shot on the left is far more blurry than the shot used on the right, also the right is a lot more clearer and crisper. 

Although it's not very clear minimised like this, the difference between the two, is that the second camera was far more clearer and crisper, whilst the original camera was a lot more cloudy and came out darker on screen.

I also filmed the bands cameo for the sequence, and 'Cathedrals & Cars' were delightful to work with and have even asked if I would work with them in the future on a music video project for them.

Filming

Unfortunately, I was unable to film on the 10/12/11 / 11/12/11 due to unforeseen problems.

However, as we are now breaking up for the Christmas holidays and my camera tripod has arrived, I have pushed my filming schedule to begin again on the 19/12/11. On this day, I am pretty sure I will get the mass chunk of it done with my lead actor Michael and the cameo from the band, Cathedrals & Cars. Then all I have left to do, is to film the flashback scenes, which can be filmed at my house, without Michael, and just the background voice actors.

Animatic-New and Improved

Above is the new and improved animatic, based on critical feedback from others. 

I improved upon:

• Quality of the voice overs, sound, tone and background noise.

The initial first two shots, including my production titles shown in the previous blog post.

Overall, I think the outcome of my new animatic was good and generally much better than the previous animatic I posted. I had a little trouble with the timing of the music and initially the voice overs didn't turn out as loud as I would have liked, but I overcame this and finally got there.  

Filming Schedule

Before I start filming my opening sequence, I need to ensure that I have a plan for what I would like to film each day and who/what I need and the locations.

I also must include the risk assessment, for the safety af my actors and myself.

Finished Production Cards

These are the production card titles for my opening sequence. If I have time, I may still go back and edit them slightly, as I will see how the rest of the production goes.

Character Profile for Opening Sequence

Character name:
Theo Evans


Actor:
Michael Blundell-Lithco


Age:
17 years old


Ethnicity:
White British


Social Class:
Working class


Employment status:
Voluntary afternoon/evening work at the local Theatre in his town.


Education:
Music Tech course at college, four days a week. 


Hobbies:

• Playing guitar and piano
• Writing music and lyrics
• Listening to music
• Generally spending time on his own
• Small, quaint coffee shops
• Reading 

Theo lives at home with his father, after his mother walked out on the family five years previous to the present day events, due to the domestic abuse she suffered at the hands of Theo's father.

Now that Theo's mother has left the family, Theo has become the victim of his father's mood swings and outbursts of verbal and physical abuse.

Theo spends as much time out of the house as he can, which means he suffers peculiar sleeping patterns and finds himself walking around outside during the early hours of the morning, anything to distant himself from his father.

He attends a local college after receiving pass C grades in his GCSE's, excluding English, in which he achieved a B, and Music which is his speciality, an A. He is studying Music Tech at the college and finds himself a 'family' set up with three local boys also on the same course who have formed a band and have expressed an interest in Theo joining also.

Production Cards

These are the two ideas I have for my production cards. 

I am still grasping the concept of Live Type, so the cards and names may change to help make it a little easier. 

Animatic Feedback

Recently, I received feedback for the animatic for my two minute film opening sequence. I was pleased with the positive feedback I received and am very proud with the results!


Hi Olivia


Your animatic is excellent and is the product of hard work and thoughtful planning. You have taken on board much of the guidance and paid close attention to the detail of the shots, rather than try to cram too much in. the slow start is conventional of the genre and the theme, mood and main character are introduced appropriately in the time available. The ambient sound at the start is particularly effective, allowing time for enigma codes to be raised. You then include a sound bridge of the argument between the protagonists’s parents whilst we see close ups of other details which works well. Appropriate transitions are included to signify the temporal shift between the past and present and the cameo appearance of the band is  a really nice touch. Your film title choice is excellent and you have paid attention to the conventional order in which the titles should appear.
Things to work on:-      you need to include your production cards at the start of the sequence. At least one should have self-contained sound or music separate to your film.-      The voiceover needs more emotion, and you must remember to switch off the metronome before recording in Garageband!
Listed below are the evaluation questions we talked about in Friday’s lesson – you don’t need to do anything with them at this stage, but it’s worth being aware of them during the filming and editing process:
1)    In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
2)   How does your media product represent particular social groups?
3)   What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
4)   Who would be the audience for your media product?
5)    How did you attract/address your audience?
6)    What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
7)    Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?




Next, to improve my animatic I will...:

• re record the voice overs to capture the correct emotion and ensure the settings are correct
• work on production titles, to in corporate one into it.