Prelim and Final Film

Evaluation

Here is our evaluation of our film opening. It reflects everything we have learnt during the film making process from our progress made from our first prelim excercise to our final film opening.

Overview of Final Film

Overall, the film opening making process has been a long yet successful journey. Although we've had a few changes of ideas we are really happy with the idea we settled on. From looking at feedback, everyone really liked the fire effect we used and also commented on the fitting music and lighting. We feel we have greatly developed our editing and filming skills, from developing camera angles to creating the effect of flashbacks by using transitions and adjusting with the speed settings on iMovie. Our simple use of credits also did not overtake the story and detract attention from the shots and the voiceover of Marge turned out to be really effective and set the scene really well. The switch between past and present using the symbolism of young and old also set the scene well and allowed us to tell a story to the audience in just two minutes. Overall, we are really happy with our film opening.

Feedback

In todays lesson we looked through the feedback sheets given out at our media premiere. The results were really positive and common features that people liked and commented on was

-The effects of the fire
-The fitting music
-Use of credits
-Lighting
-Variety of camera shots/angles
-Change between tenses
-Flashbacks
-Young and old contrast
-The candle

Final Film

We are pleased to say we have finally finished our film! In todays lesson we are uploading it to DVD along with our prelim ready for the examiner, and also ready for the premiere on Thursday! It's been a long process leading up to the film but we're happy that it is finally finished and are excited for everybody to see it!

Voiceover Draft

Here is our fisrt final draft with the voiceover, there are some parts that we need to change such as which parts to place the voiceover, but this a rough edit of it.

New film name idea

In yesterdays lesson the class helped us think of new film name ideas, one name idea which everybody seemed to like was 'Familial Love'. We also made a change to the beginning of the film, Miss Foster suggested we base our film on a pretend novel so to make it look more effecive our film starts with 'based on the novel by Francesca Morris' so the audience are led to believe it is a true story/novel.

Voiceover

This lunchtime, Marge Daniels recorded our voice over for us, we have yet to edit it to fit in with the suitable clips but once we do we will post what it sounds/looks like! Hopefully the voiceover will set the scene more in our film, and make the story line more understandable. Also due to Marge's past acting skills the voice over sounds very realistic and emotional which will sound great in the film!

Script for Voiceover

Today we spoke to Marge and have arranged for her to do a voiceover for the film on Monday. In todays lesson we came up with a script to say:

It was 1954, the year i'll never forget (Marge looking to the side)
He told me not to go there (Lantern shot)
But I couldn't stay away, my eyes were lit up by the flames (flames/ eyes)
I went back everyday to see him (Marge on bench/entering church)
I could spend hours there, just thinking about what had happened (at grave)
The guilt hit me, just like the flames hit him (flashback of flame)
It's all a blur (flashbacks)
But now all I have to say is (flashbacks)
May he rest in peace

Two Minutes!

We're happy to say we finally have a two minute film! After much editing we have finally come to a two minute time. Also, we have pretty much decided on a title 'Let it Burn'
All we need to do now is the voiceover!

Film Name ideas

In Fridays lesson me and Valentina did some brainstorming about some film name ideas, we came up with names such as
-Blaze
-Ignite
-Burn in Peace
-Old Flame

and over the weekend I thought of some potential names and thought 'Let it Burn' could be effective, i'll keep thinking..

Final First Draft!

I'm happy to say we finally have a proper first draft complete with credits and music.
Obviously we have alot more work to do on it such as a voice over, a name for the film and we need to sort out the music to make it more smooth but we're making progress!

Music

In todays lesson we experimented with GarageBand and have chosen our music and fit it in with or film. We have chosen a delicate piano loop which gets intense in the moments when we use fire. And we have used an emotional piano loop in the parts when she is at the graveyard and when you hear the voiceover.

Final Production Logo

Here, is our final production logo for one out of the two we are planning to use. I really like the simplicity of it and the image of the two tapes, as it relates to film and is bold and eye catching.

Possible Production Logos

Here is a definite logo we will be using for one of our production companies. We have used a fade in and out animated efefct on the logo to make it look spooky and allow the audience to know what genre the film will be.

These two are possible logos for our other production company 'Valamount Entertainent', we have yet to decide which one we will choose, but I really like the boldness of the black and white flower one.

Credit Research

As we have reached the stage of creating credits for our film, I watched a few film openings and analysed the use of credits. The common trend seemes to start with the production company, followed by the leading actors name, then the title of the film. This surprised me as I always thought the title would appear towards the end of the credits, not the beginning.
The next credits that followed were the other actors followed by other elements such as casting, music, costume, editor, production designer, director of photography, executive producers, prouducers, screenplay and finally the director. I never noticed that the director appeared at the end of the credits, this inspired me to do this for my film also.
From looking at my research it has made me change my mind about the order of my credits and has made me consider where to place the title, towards the beginning or end of the film. I will also incorporate some of the credits into the film such as 'music supervisor' and 'casting'as it makesthe film look more realistic.

Possible Production logo

Here is the basis of a production logo we would like to use, this is the definite name we just will use a logo next to it to make it stand out more and make it look more legitimate. Ideas we have had so far are an eye or a flower.

Graveyard Filming

During Fridays lesson  me and Valentina went to film in the graveyard next to our school. We got a variety of shots of me walking towards and standing opposite the grave, we attempted to do over head shots (with Valentina practically attempting to climb a tree) and we did panning shots and long shots as well as side shots. After our filming we went back to see what footage we had, luckily it looks effective and we now have more footage which improves our film and adds to the storyline.

Filming on Friday

In Fridays lesson we are hoping to film our last part of footage for our film opening, we need this footage as without it there is not enough variety of different shots and also it will help develop the story of the opening. We will be using the nearby graveyard next to school and will shoot a gravestone and our character, visiting her brother, we're hoping to get some good shots to give our opening different varieties. Hopefully this will be all the filming we will need to do and we will have all the footage needed.

Possible Logo

After experimenting with different ideas, Valentina created this eye for a potential logo for our production company. I think it is simple yet effective and also ties in with our film as the shot of the fire in the eyes is the key part of our opening. We have yet to settle on a final logo, and we may even change the colours of the eye to make it appear more simple, perhaps changing the whole thing to black and white.
Anyway, its an option..

Experimenting with credits and production names

In todays lesson me and Valentina started to experiment with our credits and production logos, we unintentionally created this by chance and really liked the effect of it. We wanted to use a simple black and white effect in order to make it simple and make more of a statement. We created the logo by leaving the letters A and V underneath eachother, leaving a line between the letters and when we pressed done this effect was made. We will add some kind of logo/icon to make the production company seem more legitimate.

Production Company Research

We have started to think about what our production company will be, an idea we really like (a little cheesey I know) but instead of 'Paramount' me and Valentina like the idea of  'Valamount' as it is a mixture of both of our names. It's just an idea..

I researched small production companies and found the company Coffee Films, a British independent film production company that specialise in indie short, feature length, music and wildlife documentary filmmaking.

I really liked the simplicity of their logo as it is black and white, this looks simple yet effective.

An idea we had for our logo was an eye, as our film contains a shot where the eyes is a key part to the film. Also there are several connotations of an eye often related to horror/mystery which our film relates to.

Or another idea we had was a candle as that is also central to our film, and allows the audience to know we are doing  a spooky style film.

(I found this as just a random image off Google, but I really like the way it is animated, an idea I would consider for my own logo).

First Draft of Film!

We are proud to say we have a very rough first draft! Last night Valentina came to my house and we filmed some flashbacks, we used my dads barbeque/fire pit and with the help of his white spirit made the flame look really big and effective (thanks dad!). The voice over in the draft is only a practice as we will be using Marge's voice and not mine! As we may not have enough footage for two minutes, we may also get some shots of a grave to represent Albert.

Filming Flashbacks

After looking at our footage we have come to the conclusion that we need something else in our film to make it more effective. We have decided to film flashbacks along with our footage in order to create a story. Our story is that Marge lost a brother in a fire, we will use her voice over as she tells a story, we will use flashbacks of fire , lighting a candle and also possibly a grave. We also hope to have  a shot of an eye with flames in its reflection as we think this would be really effective.

Film Classification

I've begun to start thinking what classification our final film opening will be, so I researched the guidelines on the BBFC website.

As our film will not contain any violence or any sexual scenes or swearing we think it may fall under the category of U or PG.

Here are the guidelines for a U classification:

Discrimination

No discriminatory language or behaviour unless clearly disapproved of.

Drugs

No references to illegal drugs or drug misuse unless they are infrequent and innocuous, or there is a clear educational purpose or anti-drug message suitable for young children.

Horror

Scary sequences should be mild, brief and unlikely to cause undue anxiety to young children. The outcome should be reassuring.

Imitable behaviour

No potentially dangerous behaviour which young children are likely to copy. No emphasis on realistic or easily accessible weapons.

Language

Infrequent use only of very mild bad language.

Nudity

Occasional natural nudity, with no sexual context.

Sex

Mild sexual behaviour (for example, kissing) and references only (for example, to ‘making love’).

Theme

While problematic themes may be present, their treatment must be sensitive and appropriate for young children.

Violence

Mild violence only. Occasional mild threat or menace only.

we may also classify it as a PG as we may use some scenes (if we use flashbacks) that may frighten a child

Drugs

References to illegal drugs or drug misuse must be innocuous or carry a suitable anti-drug message.

Horror

Frightening sequences should not be prolonged or intense. Fantasy settings may be a mitigating factor.

Imitable behaviour

No detail of potentially dangerous behaviour which young children are likely to copy. No glamorisation of realistic or easily accessible weapons.

Language

Mild bad language only.

Nudity

Natural nudity, with no sexual context.

Sex

Sexual activity may be implied, but should be discreet and infrequent. Mild sex references and innuendo only.

Theme

Where more serious issues are featured (for example, domestic violence) nothing in their treatment should condone unacceptable behaviour.

Violence

Moderate violence, without detail, may be allowed, if justified by its context (for example, history, comedy or fantasy).

Possible Refilming

From looking back at our footage we've come to the conclusion that we may have to refilm with Marge due to the poor sound quality. As the day we filmed was very windy this has affected the sound and you can't hear Marges voice very clearly, so we may have to refilm some parts.

Day of Filming

Today we finally did our filming! We met Marge at Forty Hall along with her husband and started shooting. Unfortunately the Forty Hall house was all boarded up so we couldn't get it in shot, so we used other shots of the lake without the house in the background. We stuck to our original reporter idea, so I filmed with Marge asking if she was ready to shoot to give the impression of me filming an actual documentary. Marge then spoke to the camera about her experiences in the war as well as her experiences in showbusiness, which we learnt a great amount about as she spoke to us! The day of filming was rather short as Marge, remembering her age, became very cold so we didn't want to keep her out too long. Luckily, we got everything we needed and also got a variety of different shots, so overall it was a successful day, now we just can't wait to start editing!

Sunday- We're finally filming

I'm very happy to say we are finally doing our filming this Sunday! We hope it is a successful day, and hopefully we will get some great footage of Marge!

Analysis of 'Devil' opening

In class Miss Foster showed us this film opening of 'Devil'. The opening is based upon a peculiar upside down shot of the city skyline, I found this was really effective as whilst you are watching you are left wondering how this relates to the film, a thought I had was as it is upside down and the film is called 'Devil' this could represent hell. Although I thought the shot was effective I thought it took away the attention from the actual credits, which should have been focused on more, as the audience are too focused on the shot.
I also liked the shot of the elevator which presents danger as the camera shot follows it down, presenting it as intimidating and showing something significant is about to happen. The next shot was of the floor and panned along, this was effective as it presented the more important credits and also was a smooth transition to the man waxing the floor. The ending actually terrified me as it was so out of the blue, a person flying out of mid air onto a truck. This was a really effective film opening as it leaves the audience gripped and wonder what will happen next.

The opening titles of the film really inspired me in thinking about what titles we will use for our films. It also showed how we could make our own titles, from looking at this simple title it allowed me to see how easy it would be to do something similar by simply filming our hands.

Overall, I really liked this film opening and drew inspiration from it for my own film.

Final plans for film

We have officially set a date next weekend to film our opening, we have discussed ideas with Marge and have agreed that she will talk about experiences from her own life, rather than following a script.
As Marge has had many life experiences in theatre, stage and dance, we thought we could include this into our film by her discussing this. Depending on the footage we get of Marge, we have not  yet decided if we are still going to use flashbacks as they may not be necessarily needed in the film. If we were to use flashbacks, instead of our original idea of a young girl running through the woods we would change it to fit around the idea of theatre and perhaps use flashbacks of someone on stage or perhaps someone dancing.

In todays lesson we edited our footage of our visit to Forty hall, here is a run through of our film idea.




Today we also sorted out who our main character will be, Marge. Marge is an experienced performer and has had a lot of experience in front of the camera, we also thinks he will be perfect for our film as she has had so many life experiences that she can translate and bring to our film.

Now, we can't wait to start filming!

Filming Practice at Forty Hall

Today me and Valentina went to Forty Hall to practice for our filming day next week. We found parts of our location which we would use for our flashback scene in the woods, due to the amount of trees around we thought we could do an over head shot and attach the camera to the tree using a gorilla pod when we have our proper day of filming. We also did a run through of the film, doing practice shots and scenes in order to see how the film would work with the location.

Flashback Practice

In Fridays lesson, me and Valentina experimented with the Flips and filmed some shots to create the impression of flashbacks.Valentina filmed me running up the stairs and opening the door and I was filmed talking about the past. We uploaded the clips and edited the scenes in iMovie to create a sequence of events that changed from past to present,  we created the impression of flashbacks by using sepia and changing the brightness, exposure and contrast in the clip. We also used transitions between the clips to make the flashbacks look effective. We were really happy with the outcome as the flashbacks looked effective and me and Valentina have drawn the conclusion that we are going to use this editing method for the flashbacks in our film.

Here is our flashback practice (I apologise for my bad acting)

Final Idea

We have decided to change our film idea from a comedy to a documentary/thriller.
Today we finalised our idea and have slightly changed our original concept. We are still planning on using an elderly woman and are going to
use flashbacks but we have come up with the idea of doing a mockumentary.



This opening is very similar to how we'd like ours, we think using text on a blank screen would be really effective as a way to set the story. Also, we are hoping to use a similar opening with a character explaining how she is doing an interview with an elderly woman. The film will be based around the girl interviewing the old woman about things from her past and that is when the woman will have flashbacks from her past. These flashbacks will be of when she is a girl and this is when the audience finds out more about the womans past. We have yet to decide what the flashbacks will be of but we are thinking of the girl pherhaps running through the woods looking as if she has done something or seen something.