Rushes-will

All the rushes have been uploaded and are on the network now.

Plot Developments -Bradley Mills

 Story line and Props

I have been trying to find a way to make the all aspects of the film correlate to each other, whilst filming I decided that we should have the character waking up from a night out drinking, and in the flashback scene you would see what crimes he committed in this 'night out', this could mean that what he was shoplifting could be a bottle of alcohol,  and you would see this 'prop' in other scenes, such as waking up in the morning with the bottle almost empty next to the bed, also we were planning to have a tracking shot of the character walking towards his house, To make this shot relevant to the film I thought it would be better to have the character walking home drunk from a night out holding the bottle of alcohol, this would be a good way in which to begin the film, leading to a transition where we see the next day beginning with the alarm clock.

For this correlation theme to be effective the characters clothing in the crimes will have to be the same, the top we see the character wearing on the night out is left on the window ledge in one of the shots he picks up the t shirt he was wearing 'last night' and puts it on creating a feeling that all of the props and the clothes used are being used to tell the narrative.

Possible problems the new plan may include

A possible problem we may have is with continuity, the time will have to match the time frame that we are working on with this 'night out' concept, other problems include what I look like on camera and how the setting looks on camera, because we have filmed half of the main scene already 'Tuesday' and  we need to wait until 'Thursday' to Finnish off what we started with the policeman present.
We are also very reliant on others for our filming, with us needing permission to shoot certain scenes and having to ask others to help such as the police man who is only available on Thursday, we will also need a car for one of our scenes which we will need to gain permission to use somebody Else's.

Animatic-Will, Aditi and Bradley

Edited by: Will

Voices by: Aditi and Will

Ideas: Bradley

The real film won't be this long, it only took longer due to the commentary.

Flash back ideas - Skellitons and Memento - Bradley Mills

Vertigo shot

The clip on the left is the shot we want to try to replicate for the flash back transition because it creates a feeling that the equilibrium is being removed from an individuals perspective, for example a policeman arriving at your doorstep in our movie. I believe that used in special situations such as this, the vertigo shot can be very effective.

 The second video explains how this effect is achieved, I want to try to use both of the different vertigo transitions to go into and out of the 'trance/flashback'. As we found in the practice of this shot we need a 'dolly' and moving towards the subject whilst zooming out is the harder shot to perfect, so if we only use one it will be the moving away from the subject whilst zooming in for the start of the transition.

whilst in the flashback I am planning to edit the footage so that the color is slightly different than the color of the shots to make it clearer to the audience that this footage is from a previous time, also to create this effect we will use a fade to white to symbolize the flashback this also leads well to the changing of color during the sequence.

Lighting Idea-Will

The following point is an idea of different uses of lighting we could use for our filming and how it can create moods of tension that would match the context of a thriller. We are planning to film the first scene during the morning and in the mornings now it is quite dark so we could play on the fact that Jack is still half asleep and the use of lighting will hopefully create a larger effect on the mood of the film and increase the level of tension.

.Backlighting - we could use this type of lighting when the policeman is standing in the door way which would create a sillhouete figure which would conceal his identity and curiosity will be developed over this character and may also suggest that this character is menacing because of his dark figure being portrayed from the backlighting. Also the light could come from his car lights so it would show the audience where the light is coming from, so it would be a beleivable source of lighting.

initial prop and lighting ideas - Bradley Mills

Props
The props for the policeman wont be a problem as I have access to the MET outfit through family relations. The ipod and ipod player can be used from my dads player and my ipod which I will then use a prop, The music can be added in through editing.


The products used in the shoplifting scene can be purchased at the store, And with permission from the staff we will be able to shoot this scene effectively.

We will need a milk bottle for the 'Milking scene' I want to use a bottle because this will be a more realistic prop, but if we cannot get a 'glass milk bottle' we will go to a supermarket and find the next best thing.


We will need a newspaper for the tracking shot where the character 'Jack' will take the newspaper out of the letter box of somebody's house and will read it as he continues to walk.


For the disabled parking scene we will ask a friend of Wills to shoot the scene with his car and then cut so that I 'Jack' will appear to exit the car.
We will try to shoot this at a high angle as to show the disabled sign clearly however this may prove to be difficult to pull off so we will try a variation of different shots and edit them in pre production in order to create the best outcome.

This video shows another way of filming this scene, where we could see the car already in the disabled parking space and have the character walking normally towards the car and driving off, however we would shoot this in a way that would involve more camera angles and cuts to make it more 'cinematic'.


we could possibly use both ideas of the high angle shot to show the character walking towards the car and then cut to closer shots as the car drives away this would mean that the audience would see 'Jack' entering the car and the owner of the car can drive off.


Lighting notes
The lighting could be important depending on the time of day that we shoot vs the time of day that we want to create in the film due to time restrictions and limitations, however it is dark now in the mornings as well as night this could be a good way to combat the time restrictions we face with ambient lighting.
There will be no real need for added lighting because of the genre of movie that we are making, in thrillers typically lighting is used to convey certain aspects of the film and characters to the audience however it is not clear how lighting could enhance our movie.

Pre production Sound ideas - Bradley Mills

Bradley Mills

Sound ideas

SCRIPT

In terms of script we will try to keep dialogue minimal in this film, the main role of speech is with the policeman as his speech will reveal the twist of the plot, the dialogue will be along the lines of 'Is your name Jack Meade?' and 'I have found your wallet sir' i have not planned this speech any further because the actor i am using as the policeman has experience in the job and will have a better idea of what to say than I do, however if what he says is not effective on camera we can try different things.

MUSIC

I was struggling to think of where and how to use music effectively in our movie, but I decided that Jack in his opening 'getting ready' scene could be seen putting on his ipod, at this point we will hear the music, I will edit the music so that the sound fades out as he moves further away from the ipod, such as the music will be louder when he is in the bedroom, when Jack goes into the bathroom for example the sound will become faded or 'Muffled' creating an effective and realistic representation of sound.

I will try gain permission to use my friend who is a music artist 'Cheikh' to use one of his songs in the sequence.

I am still unsure of how I want to use non diagetic music in the film, I believe that non diagetic music really determines the genre of the film, because we do not have a clear cut genre knowing what kind of music to use and where is a difficult question that i will not know the answer to until the post production phases of the filming.

Sound effects

Sound effects can be added also in the post production phases which can add to the overall production value of the film, but I believe the most effective way to add sound effects is when the film layout is all complete and they should be considered finishing touches.

Role Allocations - Bradley Mills

ADITI - Aditi has extra experience with the camera as she is studying film alongside media, because of her skills and knowlege of camerawork, we thought it will be easier her to shoot some main sequences. Aditi has also expressed her ideas about camera transitions particulalry with the flashback sequence.


Bradley- Bradley is incharge of the sound and editing for the film he was involved in the editing of last years task and was able to produce a convincing thriller peice through editing and sound, Because Bradley knows the location well he will be head of location, and also his roles include making sure that the props are off a high standard and that they are avaliable for filming.
Bradley also has experience with photoshop gaining full marks for his 'album cover' work in  his GCSE year 11 media coursework so he will be incharge of creating a film poster.




Will- Will is incharge of lighting and also editing, he has expirience in editing from last years coursework and also in video production which reguires allot of time editing in which he learnt allot of  different editing techniques that will be usefull to the group this year. Will has a good overall understanding of media so he can help with all aspects of our project.


Group
As a group we feel that it is important we are all together for the initial stages of editing in order to share our ideas with the group also the main editor will have a better idea of what to do and how to progress with the editing particularly in regards to the order of the shots.
As a group we have brain stormed and come up with an idea that we are all excitied to develop, We feel that it is important for everyone to be happy with the choice of film. Also as a group we have discussed ideas for our planning including the animatic and the drawings of the shots we will use,

Anamatic + Story board; aditi

Get off my land - Bradley Mills

Get Off My Land 

 Bradley Mills

The Films begins with a mid shot of two pairs of feet walking through mud, this shot shows that these people are not wearing the appropriate footwear for a walk through mud, the dirty white trainers suggest that something has not gone to plan and these people weren't expecting to be walking through mud creating an enigma as to why they are there.

This shot from the opening sequence shows that there is a divide between the two characters, it suggests that  there has been a disagreement between the two or that they do not know each other, the possible implications of this shot leave the audience guessing.

The film then progresses to where the idea of calm and 'Equilibrium' which is what I want to work towards in my own movie is disturbed by a farmer who claims that the two characters are intruding on his land.

The two male characters come to a disagreement as to weather it is right or wrong to 'own land' and to weather of his family obtained this land by fighting for it, they should have to 'fight to keep it'.

This is an interesting shot, it shows the two masculine characters, in a confrontation with the female character in the middle, possibly suggesting that she will prevent the two from fighting.

However instead of tying to stop the 'fight' the female character holds the characters coat passively suggesting that she is the less dominant character in the relationship.

The farmer's masculinity is challenged when he turns away and gets back into his car, suggesting that equilibrium is restored, however the farmer returns from his car with a shot gun, a 'phallic symbol' of manliness and power, the jeep in the background could represent the disruption in equilibrium.

This shot represents the reaction of the audience of shock, when indeed the farmer shoots dead the man over the 'small' argument.

There is another twist in the plot as the farmer is walking away after killing the male character we see an over the shoulder shot of the farmer this shows that the woman is devastated.

The camera then cuts to a shot of tree's we then hear via a sound bridge the sound of the shot gun going off again, and when the camera returns to the scene with he farmer we see the female character dead as well.

This twisting of the plot and producing the unexpected is what i want to replicate in my own film and i believe that this film does this well.

Get Off My Land 

Practice on final cut pro - Bradley Mills

Practice on final cut pro - Bradley Mills

I decided to create a video in order to become more familiar with editing, since i have not used final cut pro since last years task. I chose to replicate the NBA where amazing happens adverts in my own way. 

This video is the original advert that i wanted to take the structure of my movie from.

I decided to keep the intensity and emotion of the original advert whilst using Video rather than still images, because I wanted to gain more experience editing clips.

I chose to set the effects to a black and white setting, and I slowed the footage down in order to add to the generic intensity and emotion in the movie, the music I used is the same track as heard in the original advert which i downloaded and placed into my film.

I chose a clip from 'Space jam' for my opening sequence and cut the parts that I wanted to use and placed them in the video before the clips of my playing basketball. The continuity of the film was effected by this so i decided to fade the sound in and out and the visual in and out in order to create a clean transition.

I placed in text in order to explain the narrative 'My story' I chose carefully where to place the text in order to stand out and look 'good' visually. Because the text was white and the film was black and white effect i had to find a dark area to place the text usually on the roof or against the brick wall of my house.

At the end I wanted a certain part of the text to stand out from the rest so i changed the colour to black in order for the black text to stand out i had to place it over the lightest part of the shot which was the table at the bottom which created a good contrast.

This shot was particularly effective because the text appears above my head as I am looking up towards it, the ball in the air creates a border for the text.

Main Film Idea - Bradley Mills

Possible names of this film


What have I done this time?


A knock at the door

The PLOT

Equilibrium

The film will start of just like a regular day, Jack Meade is woken up by his alarm clock, he completes regular daily activities such as shaving,showering and brushing his teeth he then goes downstairs to put on the TV or Playstation.

Disruption

There is a police man at the door, Jack Pauses the TV/Playstation symbolising the pause in the Equilibrium, he walks to the door to talk to the police man.

Flash back

Jack has a flashback of all the possible reasons that the police man may be at his door looking for him, the proceeding shots show scenes of petty crimes such as shop lifting which will be shot at a high angle with a specific filter made to look like a CCTV shot.

Equilibrium restored

Police man says that he has found Jacks wallet or something small, reliving Jack of his worries Jack then goes back to what he was doing, (presses play on the playstation/TV) this signifies the restoration of the equilibrium. 


Possible Actors To play JACK


JIDE BUCKLEY - Aged 17 (Media Student) The main reason I feel that he will make a good leading character in our film is because he is very good in front of the camera he is a very confident person therefore will not be embarrassed to 'act' in front of the camera and he has the right look that i want.


 - This Video although was made to promote his Basketball skills still shows Jide's camera presence and confidence.

          BRADLEY MILLS (MYSELF) - Aged 18 The main reason i am considering using myself as the main character is because i can rely on myself being there when needed, however if Jide is available i will use him as 'JACK'

Harry Cowan/George Turner - Aged 17 The main reason i am considering using Harry or George as the main character is because They are both talented drama students and trust worthy friends.


The Actor i will use for the police man will be my dad.


Location
We will shoot the house scenes in my Dads house in Cheam (Epsom)it is an urban area and is more interesting a location in terms of our movie than in sussex, we will ask in corner shops for permission to shoot the 'shoplifting' scene in the local area if not we will shoot this scene in sussex when we get back.


possible problems shooting


Possible problems may include transport problems, trying to get 'camera crew' and actors to the location and back but i have arranged a lift down there.


Other problems may include getting permission to shoot scenes such as the 'shop lifting' scene, and filming more scenes of crime without doing anything 'illegal' whilst shooting.

Group initial idears-Will

Group initial idears-Will

All My Dreams On VHS: Bradley Mills (unfinnished)

All My Dreams On VHS - Bradley Mills

The film starts with a sound bridge which I think is an interesting way to start a film and is how I want to begin my own film , we can hear the characters before we see them which raises the level of importance and expectations we have of these characters because there is a slight mystery raised by using this technique as to who these people are and why these people are being introduced to us in this way suggesting importance.

In the establishing sequence the film keeps cutting back to this shot, the camera is at a slightly tilted angle and pans down as if to show that there are many tapes, there is a shallow depth of field and drawing attention to the tapes that are closest to the camera.

There is a use of a fade to black cut which is interesting because this disrupts the continuity of the scene suggesting that these tapes represent time past, just as the cut to black creates a delay in time. Out of the 'fade to black' we see two characters walking towards the camera who are the characters we heard talking during the sound bridge, the shot then fades back towards the tapes suggesting that these tapes and these characters are linked in the plot.

The two characters enter the mans house, the interior if primarily all white, which connotes innocence and sincerity which is important to us believing that what he is saying about the 'tapes' is true. This screen grab also shows us the vast amount of tapes they are stacked up almost as high as he is standing.

This 'white' and innocence comes through with the character as he comes across as a likeable but childish character in some ways, this is also reflected in his dreams, which instead of being violent or pornographic they are about nice friendly things such as 'Monster likes me' where he explains its about playing on the beach with monsters.

This screen grab shows the female characters shock when she finds a tape named 'Erica' this suggests that she is 'Erica' and is shocked by this discovery.

Erica then watches the film labelled 'Erica' we do not see what she is seeing but her facial expressions suggest to the audience about what could be on the type and how she feels about it.

This use of letting facial expression tell the story is a strong sequence in the film and it is similar to the scene in Amelia and Micheal where Amelia hears bad news but we do not hear what the character hears we are lead to suggest this through her facial expressions.

There is a good sequence where the male character realises that he has this tape named 'Erica' whilst she is in his house, where he rushes back and catches her watching the tape.

This screen grab shows the embarrassment and shock in a two shot of the two characters, similar again to the way in 'Amelia and Micheal' where when the characters feel they have done 'Wrong' cannot look at each other, the male character has hidden behind the sofa and turned his head away from Erica, to suggest that his embarrassment is causing him to want to hide from the situation.

The conversation that precedes creates an Enigma to what is on the tape, where the two characters hint at what is on the tape leaving the audience guessing.

In a twist in the plot Ericas reaction to what was on the tape is extremely positive where the audience where being mislead into thinking that she was having a very negative reaction to the tape which was supposed to be his 'dream'.

The significant sequence in the movie is when the first row of tapes fall down and Erica realises that she is no longer 'special' and that he has had dreams about many other girls before, this ruins the moment and she leaves.

the characters innocence is then questioned, but he regains some of his innocence when we see him smiling and watching his dreams in a child like manner.

 All My Dreams On VHS

Amelia and Michael - Bradley Mills (unfinnished)

Amelia and Michael

This is the first shot the audience see, it is an interesting way in which to begin a film, where as usually an establishing shot will give information into the environment and location, this shot gives information about character.


From this shot we know that the character is female and concerned with image as she is applying her makeup but we don't know why.

The non diagetic music suggests that the plot is serious because it is a slow tempo track generally associated with dramas.


This shot of the two characters gives a little more information towards characters and location, the body language in this shot is very negative with both characters leaning away from each other and the facial expressions are very negative also suggesting there may have been friction between these characters relationship between each other.


There is no verbal communication between the two characters and as soon as the woman finishes applying her makeup she turns her head away from the make character to look out of the window, reinforcing this feeling of tension between the two.

The previous shot is contrasted when the two characters share a tame kiss this suggests that the silence and negative body language may be due to another problem in there life's which leaves the audience in an enigma towards what is happening or what has happened.

The idea that something is in fact wrong in there 'marriage' is again suggested when there is a close up of the female character removing her ring as he drives away. There is an obvious deception of trust being carried out as we see the female pretend to go into one building but then turn around and call for a taxi to go somewhere else (without the ring on her finger)


This is similar to the idea explored in the film 'Brief Encounter' of a woman deceiving her partner, similar to the film 'Brief Encounter' the male character is a kind but no thrills type husband who seems to give more than he receives in terms of the relationship, we hear him on the phone ordering extravagant things for there anniversary, meanwhile we see that the female character is having an affair.

We see her go to the hospital there we see a picture of her and this mysterious man on a motorbike together, this suggests that there has been a history between the two character's because photographs connotate a history, particularly because it is framed and there body language and facial expressions are much more positive we see that these characters are having an affair, in contrast to the body language in the car between her and her husband in the picture she is smiling and leaning towards the man with her hand on his shoulder suggesting intimacy. The motorbike also give's us information as to why he may be in the hospital also, i believe the photograph is a good way to communicate the plot and i may try to incorporate something similar into my own film.

She then goes on to kiss this 'mystery man' in a way which is much more intimate than the kiss she shares with her husband in the car she also refers to him as 'my love' which is very affectionate and possessional.This shot is taken at a high angle to suggest that the audience should look down apon this behaviour.

(NVC analysis into the kisses)

This video explores the idea of positive and negative female body language further.

The plot thickens when we see the male character go on what appears to be a date at first but it is suggested that she is an escort because there is a shot of this lady leaving the hotel room holding cash in her hand on her own.

we then see footage of the male character in distress, this suggests guilt and that he has just cheated on his wife, there is a powerful shot of this fully grown man resorting to the fettle position.

There is a shot that shows both of the married characters in the same room together after the affairs, this is significant because neither of the two can look at each other, one is directing her attention to a newspaper and the other is looking down, with there bodies positioned away from each other.

The camera angle again is high at a two shot suggesting that the audience should look down upon both of these characters behaviour.


Powerful use of sound


At the end of the movie the female character receives some bad news at this point the audience cannot hear what the news is because there is silence but this brings more attention towards the female characters facial expressions, this is a powerful use of 'sound' because when you take the sound away it creates a striking difference to the rest of the film, as she walks away the sad non diagetic soundtrack plays to suggest her mood at this time.

After a sequence of cross cutting between the two characters there is a moment where the two come together and bond over the same feeling of guilt and sadness is a passionate hug.

Amelia And Micheal