G321: First Rough Cut of Opening and Feedback

This is the first rough cut of our film opening. We have recieved feedback from both our teachers and our target audience. It was important to get feedback at this stage to ensure that our film is successful in attracting our target audience. Receiving feedback throughout the editing stage is effective as it means we can improve as we go along, instead of having a lot to improve when we receive final feedback.



Feedback from our teachers:
Overall our film received good feedback our shots were steady and well framed. The mise-en-scene was well selected and suits the piece and the editing was good and made sense to the audience. To improve our opening we need to add a soundtrack to our piece, work on our titles and complete our institutional logo.

Feedback from our target audience:
We previewed our film to a group of teenagers aged 15 and above (both male and female). The feedback we received was all very positive. They clearly understood it was from the romantic-comedy genre and could gage that the overall feel for the film was a 'chick-flick'. The did comment that sound would further improve our opening. This is something that we have already considered and plan to edit in background music.

We will now make these improvements and take on board the advice we have received before we upload our second rough cut.

Cath, Charley

G321: Feedback on Initial Filming

16/03/2011

Today we recieved feedback about our initial shots from our teacher. We recieved mainly positive feedback about our shots below:

• Good Tracking shots, steady camerawork
• Good lighting throughout
• Nice framing of the over the shoulder shot
• Generally good camerawork

The negative feedback we recieved was:

• Not so good framing of the close up shot of our main charactrers eyes
• Writing on the computer screen is quite difficult to read

To resolve these problems, we have decided to re-film the close up of the computer screen with the writing and we have decided that we can crop the close up of the characters eyes when editing.

Re-filming

We re-filmed the close up of the computer screen on the same day we recieved the feedback so that we could proceed with editing as planned. To do this, we used a dolly, a tri-pod and a camera and we managed to complete this re-filming within 30 minutes. We filmed a few different variations of this shot so that we had multiple ones to choose from when editing to give the best effect. We worked equally as efficient and managed our time just as well as our first day of filming and we are now ready to continue with our editing.

Joanna

G321: Filming Diary

  

15/3/2011

 

Our first day of filming was very successful and we worked very well and efficiently together. We arrived at our location: a bank office in Chelmsford town, and we were very efficient when setting up all of our props and camera equipment. We all brought different props with us and brought along our storyboard, so that we could look at how we imagined the set to look and could place all of the props in the correct places. We made sure that our actress had the right costume and helped to style her in the way we imagined her to look.

 

Setting upprops on desk

 

Setting up props



 


Working on costume with our actress

 

Setting up the props



When we were setting up our equipment we came across some problems. One main problem was the size of our tri-pod as it was not as tall as we had expected and did not have a spirit level on the top to tell us if the camera was straight. Therefore to resolve this, we had to stand our tri-pod on a small coffee table to get it to the height we needed and we had to use all three of us to use the camera: one two to hold the tri-pod at an angle that was straight and one to be in charge of using the camera itself. This meant that filming some of the shots was more time-consuming that we had hoped but we did manage to work very efficiently in spite of this. Another problem that we had was framing our shots. To get a full long shot, we had to move the tri-pod out of the door peering in on the room to create a successful long shot. This did actually work very well as we managed to get the shot we needed without any huge problems.



Our Camera stood on a small Coffee table



Our camera through the doorway



Although we had our shot-list with us, we did not entirely stick to it as we had some issues with the camera equipment. This therefore meant that we had to pay careful attention to which shots we had filmed to ensure that we didnt miss any out along the way. Our shot list showed that we should have filmed in the following order:

Setting up Props

1) Long shot of desk

2) Second Long shot of desk

3) Tracking shot of desk

4) Second tracking shot of desk

5) Close up of computer screen

6) Over the shoulder shot

7) Close up of characters eyes

8) Ariel shot of character's handbag

This was because we had ordered the shots by the typoe of shot they were however our difficulties meant that we needed to film it this order instead:



Filming the shot of the desk



1) Long shot of desk

2) Second long shot of desk

3) Ariel shot of phone

4) Close up of characters eyes

5) Over the shoulder shot
6) Close up of computer screen

7) Tracking shot of desk

8) Second tracking shot of desk




Filming the hand-held tracking shot



Mostly, once we had overcome the problems with the camera equipment, our filming of each shot went fairly smoothly however there were one or two shots that we still had a lot of difficulty with. The first difficult shot was the shot of the phone ringing. We has issues with the sound in particular with this shot. Because of our location, outside the office was a main road and it was difficult not to pick up the sound of the cars passing by when we filmed this. Therefore we decided to film this shot a number of times to make sure that we had choice of the best shot when we are ready to edit. Another shot that was particularly difficult was the tracking shots. This was because we were filming them hand-held adn it was difficult to keep the camera steady. Another problem with these shots was the timings as we had to make sure that our actress did things in sync with the camera as well as having a steady speed ready for us to edit.

When filming, we all equally contributed to the work and worked very efficiently together. We managed to film all of our shots in one session which meant that our time management was very successful as our filming schedule actually stated that we were planing on filming over two days rather than one.

Joanna

G321: Health and Safety

When filming it is important that we consider the health and safety aspects in order to ensure the safety of our actors, ourselves, the filming equipment and those around us.

Due to the fact that we are filming in a secluded office for the whole sequence factors such as traffic and dangerous environments do not need as great consideration as things such as interacting with the general public, disturbing people working at the location and getting permission for filming.

For our opening we need to consider:

• Getting permission to film in our chosen location - we have already recieved permission from the bank mananger saying we can use the facilities for filming.
• Being polite and respectful to those working in the location - on the day of filming we will ensure we are quiet and do not intrude on those working and cause them any distractions. As we are using a private office it will be easier for us to remain in one place and not have to move around too and not get in peoples way. 
• Being aware of electical equipment - as our setting is focused a lot on a computer and other office electrics we have to be aware of the danger these could lead to. For example, drinks and other liquids near plugs and computer screens could cause electricution. In order to avoid this happening we need to take care in ensuring that props such as coffee mugs do not actually contain any liquid and also when taking breaks etc we need to make sure we are away from computers and other electrical equipment.

Cath, Charley, Joanna

G321: Considering Sound and Effects

For our opening, we wanted to use both a voice over and non-diegetic music to accompany the filming. This is because we have noticed that a lot of other films from the rom-com genre also use this technique such as Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009) and Bridget Jones (2001). Our main character Penelope Fox speaks in the voice over and so we plan to audition different actresses to find someone with an appropriate voice. The voice over is extremely important to our opening as it introduces the main character as well as directly showing the particular genre of our film. It is one of the main features of the opening as it narrates what is happening and makes the audience want to ask questions about what might happen later in the film.

We would like to have a romantic piece playing in the background and to add the comedy element to our piece we plan to cut off the music when a phone rings loudly. This is to introduce a mood change from relaxed and calm to frantic and panicked. Whilst the voice over is playing, we would like to have the piece of music playing softly in the background that has romantic connotations but is still happy to emphasise the comedy element. It is important that we use royalty-free music because of the copyright laws and so we have been looking for music that is copyright free. Below are some of the songs that we are considering using for our opening and we have evaluated what their strengths and weaknesses.

'There is Romance'
This piece is a soft piano piece that is very romantic and is very simple and calming. We liked this piece because it connotes the romantic element of our genre and wouldn't be too overpowering with the voice over playing on top. However it does not add to the comedy side of the genre which is an important part to our genre and would not give a good representation of this in our opening.

'Somewhere Sunny'

This piece is a guitar duet that is both calming and uplifting. We liked the sound of this piece as it would fit nicely beneath our voice over and compliment the slow camera movements. Also the relaxed sound would also effectively contrast with the change in tone when the phone begins to ring. However, we do feel that the guitar sound is slightly too 'country' for the sound we desire and doesn't quite fit with the romantic atmosphere of the opening.

'Porch Swing Days'

This piece features both acoustic guitars and a chorus, which enters early on in the piece. These sounds together work to create an airy, carefree atmosphere. We like this piece as it has a feel-good melody which is calming but fun. The sound would fit nicely underneath the voice over and would not intrude and prevent us from hearing the voice over. Again however the guitar instrument makes the piece sound a little 'country' but played quietly underneath this could still work effectively.

'Clear Waters'

This piece is a delicate solo piano piece which is simple and light. It is very calming and would fit with the film we are creating. We like this piece because it has a romantic feel and enchanting melody which creates a relaxing atmosphere. As the piece is going to play alongside a voiceover we need to choose one that won't over power the film and take away the focus from it and this piece is soft enough to do so. However, we feel that this piece may be too quiet and may not be heard under the voiceover. Also, it may be too romantic and not cover the comedy side of our genre.

Cath, Charley, Joanna

G321: Finalising Location for Opening

We have already decided that an office setting would be most  appropriate for our opening and after more discussion and planning we have organised a specific office that we will use. As we wanted a city location, we needed an office that looked professional and didn't make it obvious that it wasn't actually located in a city. We are going to use the Co-operative Bank located in Chelmsford town where there is a fully furnished office containing most of the props we require to use. This location is easy for us to get to as it is local, as it is in town and will therefore be easy to arrange meetings with our actors. The office is private and we won't be disturbed or distracted by the general public when filming and directing.

To ensure that the location is entirely suitable, we visited the office and checked there was ample space for filming equipment and actors to work in. Here are the photographs we took of our chosen location:

Cath, Charley, Joanna

G321: Improved Shot-List

Since creating our last shot-list, we have improved it by re-ordering the list to the types of shot we will be taking and we have inputted the confirmed dates for filming. We have also removed the column for the times as we are unsure as to how long each shot will take to film. We have however, decicded on the times we will be filming and informed the actors of this on the film schedule.

 

Cath, Joanna

G321: Initial Shot List for Opening

 

Cath, Charley, Joanna

G321: Reconsidering Costumes, Colours and Make-up

Having now chosen to cast Amy as the character of Penelope Fox, we are able to compare her to our initial thoughts on costumes for this character. We are going to stick with the professional look for this character however our initial idea of a shift dress has changed to a suit-style outfit because we think that this would be more suitable for our chosen actress. Our character is very fashionable and glamorous and we are going to persue this trait by having her wear classy jewelery and heeled shoes.

We imagined this character to have long wavy hair and our actress Amy, can create this look through the use of hair extemtions. With regards to make-up, we are going to go for a natural, yet sophisticated look. The main colour schemes will be pastel colours including pinks and silvers for a glamourous feel. The clothing below is the costume choice we are now going to choose for our actor to wear.

Cath, Joanna

G321: Final Decision for Actors

Having now auditioned a number of actors to cast in our film opening we have come to our final decision of who will star in our film. The actors we have chosen are Amy Platt, Louise Chick and David Hyde as we feel they are most appropriate for the roles of Penelope Fox and Ryan Westwood.

Amy Platt

We have chosen Amy to star as the role of Penelope Fox in our film as she is most suited to the look we are going for for this character. She is tall, slim and dresses fashionably in the same way we imagined the character to. Amy has also had some drama experience and gained a good qualification in this subject and will therefore be able to create a credible character and performance.

Louise Chick

We have decided to cast Louise for the voice over in our opening as we really liked the style in which she read out our script. Her good drama experience is very helpful as she is able to create the sort of emotions and characterisation we are looking for. She will be playing the same character as Amy but will act as her voice because she is unfortunately unavailable to film with us on our scheduled days.

David Hyde

After considering all three of the actors for the part of Ryan Westwood we have decided to cast David Hyde as we think he is most suited to the character and would look believable as Penelope Fox's boyfriend. For this character in the opening we did not need to consider acting ability as the character only appears in a photograph. However if we were considering the whole film, this actor does have experience in acting and would be able to fulfill the role of Ryan Westwood.

Cath, Charley, Joanna

G321: Auditions for Ryan Westwood

The character of Ryan Westwood only appears in a photograph in the opening of our film. Therefore to audition for this role, we have taken photographs of different people of different ages and will cast them based on heir look and their suitability for our female actress as they will be playing her boyfriend. We have evaluated their suitability for the role below.

Chris Pacher

We thought that this person would be suitable for the character of Ryan Westwood as he has dark hair and looks friendly.  He would fit well next to the look of any of our auditionees for the role of Penelope Fox. On the other hand, this actor could look too old next to some of our female actresses which would make their relationship less realistic.

Will Howlett

We decided to audition this person because he is the same age as some of our actresses and would therefore look believable as the ole of her boyfriend. Even though he is younger than what we orginally wanted this character to be, he does look more mature for his age and could potenially play the role successfully. 

David Hyde

We chose to audition this person because he is of the age that we origianlly had planned for this character and would be well suited to any of our female auditionees. This photo is also suitable to use in the opening sequence of our film which will save us time if we choose to cast this person. Even though he does not look the way we had originally intended, we feel he would still fit the character well.

Cath, Charley, Joanna

G321: Auditions for Penelope Fox

Before the audition we explained the film brief to the actors as well as the character profile so that our actors were aware of the character they are going to portray. It also means that the actors are aware of the characters background and their current social status.

Audition 1
Name: Louise Chick
Age: Under 18
Drama experience: GCSE drama, A Level performing arts, experiences in performances and short student films.
Suitability: We thought that this person would be suitable for the role of Penelope Fox as she has a mature voice which would fit the voice over. However, as the auditionee is aged 17 and the character role is aged 24 we do not feel that their looks will fully portray this.

Having now auditioned Louise, we have decided that we really like her acting skill and voice for the role of Penelope Fox. We are still unsure of her look however, as she is only aged 17 but it is possible to make her look older through the use of make-up and costume. We are definitely considering Louise for the part in our opening sequence.

Audition 2

Name: Amy Platt
Age: Under 18
Drama experience: GCSE drama and experiences in performances
Suitability: We thought that this person may be good for the role of Penelope Fox because even though she is aged 17 she has a mature look. Also, the costume that the actor would wear in the film we feel will add to the maturity of the actor. However, the voice of this actor does not suit that of the character Penelope as it is not mature enough yet.

We really liked Amy's look for the role and we are aware that she is available to film with us at any time for our convenience. Despite her being young, she does have a mature look however her voice does give away her age somewhat and so we are thinking of using a different actor for the voiceover.


Audition 3
Name: Ellen Endicott
Age: Over 18
Drama Experience:
Suitability: We thought that this person would be suitable as she is the appropriate age for our character and she has the type of look we would like for the character Penelope.

We found that this person had a very good voice for our character however we think that perhaps her voice may be too articulate considering the upbringing and social class of our character. We still like her look for the character as she is very well presented and professional looking and so we are considering using her for the role of Penelope Fox.
Audition 4
Name: Jacqui Watson

Age: Over 18
Drama Experience:
Suitability: We thought that this person has a good voice to use possibly for the voiceover, however she does not have the right look for the character of Penelope Fox. She is also not the age of the actor we would prefer and so we are considering using her for the voiceover only.

This person has a good voice for our character and we liked the way she read the script however from seeing her on camera, her age and look are not suitable for the character of Penelope Fox. Therefore we are unlikely to cast this person however there is still the possibility of using her for the voiceover.

Cath, Charley, Joanna

G321: Consent Forms

A consent form is needed from the actor who will appear in our film so that they can agree to being part of our film and so that they understand that the footage taken of them may be used, published, reproduced, recorded, adapted, modified, complied and editied by us. It is also so that they understand that the performance will be posted on the internet but only media students will have access to it. Also, it is an opportunity to find out if our actors would like to be credited in our title sequence.

We have recieved signed consent forms from both our actors: Amy Platt and Louise Chick. Both decided that they do not wish to be credited in the final flm and so we will be taking this into account when we are adding the titles to the completed film. Because both of our actors are under 18 years old, we also recieved permission from their parents to allow them to take part in our film. This means that the actors are fully aware of what they will be involved in and their parents will be aware also.

Below are photographs of the signed consent forms from both our actresses.

Amy Platt                                                     Louise Chick

Cath, Charley, Joanna

G321: Script for Auditions

We have cut our script down to a shorter version for our actors to use in the audition. This is because it makes it easier to compare the auditions with a shorter script as we can see who is best for the role. There are no directions within our script as this is a part of the voiceover and it is more important to us how the script is read rather than the actions involved in the sequence. We would like the actor to read the script fairly slowly so that it sounds calm and relaxed and so we have broken the script into individual lines to break it up:

"Love at First Sight is perhaps the most romantic thing that can happen to anyone. [pause]

It was Shakespeare who once said ‘Love is blind’ [pause]

Passion can make people lose their heart and mind within a matter of seconds and that first glance can change your life.

Love at first sight can happen anywhere, anytime and the worst thing is, it can be uncontrollable."

Cath, Charley, Joanna

G321: Film Schedule

We need to create a film schedule to make sure that everyone involved in the opening is available to film on the same days and so that everyone is aware of what parts we will be filming and when. This will also help us organise props, costume and makeup needed for each session of filming (should it spread to more than one day), making sure that there will be no continuity errors in our opening. It also makes it easy to know what times we will be filming and what location we will be filming at at the time - fortunately our film opening only requires one setting.

 

Cath

G321: Audition Organisation

The auditions for our film will be held on Tuesday 8th March and we will use an office setting similar to the one we will use for our film. This will show us if the actor suits the setting of the film. We need to audition a variety of  people for the role so that we select the correct person for the character Penelope Fox. We need to make sure that the actor has the look we are looking for as well as the right personality. The actor is very important for the film and adds to the credibility of the film.

For our auditions we will need to organise a script that will be used and will need to explain our film brief and character profile so that the actors are aware of the character they are going to portray in the opening. As well as auditioning for the role of Penelope Fox, we are going to take some still shots of actors for the character Ryan Westwood as he will also appear in a photograph on the desk.

We are going to consider people who we think will potentially be right for the role in both their looks and acting ability. We must think about their age, look and the type of roles they have played before to determine whether they will be suitable to star in our opening.

Cath, Joanna

G321: Animatic Storyboard

We have collected photographs of each shot for our storyboard to help us think more about the flow of our opening. We wanted to make sure that our music would match the images as well as looking at how each shot flows into the next. By using real photographs with some props, it is easier to see what our opening will look like and whether or not all of the props are needed in each shot.

Shot one = Long shot showing the whole room and character
Shot two = Close up tracking shot
Shot three = Over the shoulder shot
Shot four = Medium shot
Shot five = Close up from behind the computer screen
Shot six = Close up tracking shot
Shot seven = Close up of the handbag and phone on the floor
Shot eight = Long shot showing the whole room and character


From creating this storyboard we have now decided that it is possible that one of our shots (shot 6) breaks the 180 degree rule and so we are considering removing this shot from the storyboard however we will still film all of these shots so that we can decide at the editing stage which shots we will include in our final opening.

G321: Experimenting with Props

Some of the props in our opening sequence are ones that we will have to create ourselves, so we have decided to experiment with these particular props to make sure they will work in the way we want them to. For our opening we need to create: a magazine featuring an article about our main character Penelope; the title of the film and how it will appear on the writing pad and the phone ringing (coming up with a picture of Penelope's boyfriend.

Cath, Charley, Joanna

G321: Notes On Titles

Now that we have considered and planned what our institutional logos will be, we now need to think about all the titles that will feature in our opening sequence. We have to think about this carefully as one of the main purposes of an opening is to display the titles. We have looked at existing films and their title sequence in order to take note of the order in which they appear. As a group we have decided what we would like to include the following titles:

• Institution company logo + name
• Second institution company logo + name
• Main actress
• Supporting actors
• Film title
• Editors names
• Writers names
• Directors name

These are also the order in which we would like our titles to appear. We have condensed the conventional list of titles to the ones that we feel are most important for our opening. This is because after looking at existing title sequences we have found that they normally run on for more than the 2 minute time span that we have. We don't want to squeeze all the titles in as this will look rushed and unprofessional, we would rather include the main ones and incorporate them effectively into the sequence. On a previous post (G321: Storyboard and Script for Opening) we have included images and explanations of whereabouts in the sequence these titles will appear.

Charley