Jack Casey: Media Studies Blog

What do you feel you have learnt in the progression from creating the preliminary task, to creating your film opening?

2010-05-04T11:55:00.004-07:00

I feel that the main thing i learnt was continuity. In my preliminary film, The continuity was wrong for example one minute the man was leaning to his left, then to his right. Although the camera movement was good in this i felt that my preliminary could have been a lot better. For my final coursework piece i felt that i made some severe changes to the way i went about my filming. For example i was very conscious of camera shots, for example making sure part of the persons head wasn't cut out.
Also i tried to focus on the continuity more, for example making sure the glass was in his right hand throughout and the timing when cutting to a different shot while he was walking was alright.

I feel that i have competently increased my skills in my film work. I have a greater understanding of the hardware and software and i have a sharpened eye for spotting continuity and i am some what of a perfectionist now.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of construction your film?

2010-05-04T11:55:00.003-07:00

From the process of constructing my film, There are technologies that i have i learnt. First of all i had never used a mac before this year and now i feel competent in using one. I find a mac a more comfortable piece of hardware to navigate and it i find it allows me to do more than a PC.
Secondly there were multiple film editing software's that i had never used before, such as iMovie, and FinalCutPro. I feel extremely confident with my skills of iMovie, yet final cut, i found more of a challenge.
Thirdly the practical hardware that i used was a Film camera, I have used them from a very young age and i felt like i didn't learn anything new. Throughout the whole process i have learnt numerous skills now which i am pleased of and confident with.

What kind of media institution might distribute your film and why?

2010-05-04T11:55:00.001-07:00

In researching for the media institution to distribute my film, it came to my attention that i would need a production company that was small, for example a national company. Also i would need one that specifies in drama.
The company that i found was 'KUDOS Film and Television'

Kudos Film and Television is a British independent film and television production company. It has produced television series for the BBC, ITV and Channel 4. Kudos is part of the Shine group and also has it's own film unit, Kudos Pictures.
I first heard about this company because i did work experience for a set design company who worked on the same television show as Kudos.
They seem to be the perfect comapny because they do small television series yet at the same time they do british drama films.

How did you attract/address your target audience?

2010-05-04T11:54:00.005-07:00

Firstly i addressed that this film was for my target audience because my character in the film fits that target audience himself, he is a young male. I also use aspects that they can relate too, such as a grand father dieing, or a father dieing, and not having that understanding of quite how to deal with it, which you can see through my character. Also i think a major part in attracting my target audience is by advertising it to them, which at the moment is by word of mouth. Also on YouTube the film is in links with other films for people of the same target audience. This helps show my film around purely because they will see it on someone else's video.

Who would be the audience for your film opening?

2010-05-04T11:54:00.003-07:00

My Target audience would be people roughly aged in their 20's giving no preference on sex. I say this age because this is the ages in which people really start to understand the world and start to become more aware or other classes, social differences, they become more politicised and more aware of stereotypes that are thrown upon them. This is why this would be aimed at them because I think that they would be more open to it and would look into the political message of it more deeply than others.

How does your film opening represent particular social groups?

2010-05-04T11:54:00.001-07:00

Stereotypically of drama's they link into the more obvious social groups, for example the struggle of the working class, or the hardship of racial minority in a working class environment. My film opening delves a lot deeper than that and in the complete opposite direction. It shows a young white male who seems to be living in a working/middle class environment failing to cope with his own problems. I think that my film doesn't represent social groups in a way that many people would believe them to be, but more in a sense of whats underneath, looking deeper, and showing that even people you wouldn't think of are dealing with problems and issues of their own. This completely contrasts with the common side of the film industry which relates more too stereotypes.

In what way does your film opening use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of existing horror/thriller/dramas?

2010-05-04T11:53:00.000-07:00

I feel that my opening film uses the conventions of a drama extremely well.
For example it is quite a sunny day which does not necessarily show conventions of a drama but leads away from a horror. In a way the mise en scene does develop conventions of a drama because at first it a nice sunny scene, but then the mood is changes through the characters actions, leading it to take a dramatic twist.

Also a big part of developing the conventions was the themes that i am using throughout my film opening. They are alcoholism and drug taking, which links neatly in with someone who has just lost his relative (which we see through the man standing at his grave). I feel that all of these themes linking together use and develop the conventions of a drama.

Group Reactions of film.

2010-05-04T11:52:00.004-07:00

I conducted a group viewing of my film which involved 8 people. After wards i then asked these people if they would vote either YES or NO on whether they thought my film was of an adequate quality.

Out of the 8, 7 voted that it was a good film. Many comented on how they were surprised about the realism of it, how professional it was etc. One person stated that they liked it because it was film opening, not a mini film itself, unlike most films made at AS level.
The one person who voted against it stated that it was too short and that it didn't catch their attention.
Taking this into account, the faults that were stated had always been playing on my mind through out this process, Also another confident factor is that no one stated that it didn't seem like a drama. Which comes accross to me as meaning that i completely fulfilled the conventions of a drama.

YouTube Charts

2010-05-04T11:52:00.003-07:00

Below are some charts that YouTube made by analysing the viewers of my film.

Above shows the amount of viewers I've had since I've posted my video on YouTube which at the moment is 94 views.

This chart labels the countries in which my video has been viewed. As we can see, the majority of my 94 views have been from the UK but a very small percentage of them have been in the USA. This is shown because the country is a slightly darker tone of green than every where else.

This shows a key my average audience from the 94 viewers. This is slightly disappointing because this was not my target audience. My target audience would have been men and women in their who were you adults, i.e. 20-30's. But i must bare in mind that a lot of the people who i have shown this too and who have commented will be a lot younger as it is a commonality for younger people to be using the web.

Reactions,

2010-05-04T11:52:00.001-07:00

To get some reactions for my final film, i decided to post the video on youtube. Here i get numerous comments on my film.

The Final Film

2010-05-04T11:51:00.004-07:00

Any problems with Filming.

2010-05-04T11:51:00.003-07:00

One of the main problems with filming at first was that i kept changing my ideas for the film. I must have changed about 7 times. What annoyed me about that was the it was only until the last month could i finally start productive work on the film. Also when it did come to filming, it was very hard to film due to dates. for example, when i was free to film, my actor wasn't. or the location was busy, or the mise en scene was not right e.g. bad weather. I literally had to wait for the perfect time to film.

Editing on Film

2010-05-04T11:51:00.001-07:00

Leading up from my first draft to my final out come, there was some editing in which i have to do. The majority of it is all just cutting the shots into the right place. Other parts will be editing in titles, and editing in the music.

Here we can see the smaller titles in my film. I wanted them to be a lot smaller because then i could still have the film playing in the background. This is good for me as i don't need the dark fades, which i feel can convey conventions of the horror genre. Also in using white font this also steers away from the horror and helps me convey that my film is a drama.

The main title here is the most important part of the film, so i thought having a fade out for this would be appropriate. The fact that this differs from the other titles shows that it is the main title of my film.

Props on filming day

2010-05-04T11:50:00.000-07:00

Like posted before, there was a list showing all the props that i would need for filming, Here we now have the pictures of the shots and screen shots of them in the film;
SCREEN SHOTS

The above show how the props are featured and how important they are to the structure of the film.
PICTURES OF PROPS

Market research on Fonts.

2010-05-04T11:49:00.002-07:00

Once again with the choices of fonts i left it down to a focus group where i asked 20 people what they thought about the titles and for them to select their favourite.

title 1) 7
title 2) 6
title 3) 4
title 4) 3

As shown in the graph, the choice above, Title 1, was cearly the better choice. The focus group also mentioned that they were very attracted to slim font and that its italic. The fact the font was simple was a large factor. This/a similar font is the font i will be using in my film.

Different font suggestions for the Title.

2010-05-04T11:49:00.001-07:00

Below are some possible font titles for the film, I think it is important to get this right because certain fonts convey a sertain genre, Also it seems that the font can make the film look professional or obviously amateur.
here are my choices;

Also below is a mock up of the smaller title fonts and colour. This one is not up for discussion as i am firmley please with it myself and i think that it is important for me to keep some choices based on my gut feeling.

Reactions of the first draft.

2010-05-04T11:48:00.001-07:00

I showed my first draft of the film to the rest of the people in my class. this first draft was literally me editing the shots together. There had been no sound changes or editing done, nor any title put in. In all Honestly, first reactions were not too good. The main response was more thatn the film had potential but was not looking like A level standard. This has lead me to become eager to produce a good film.

Title Final Choice

2010-05-04T11:47:00.002-07:00

The final choice for my title will be "Affliction". This is because, as seen in the previous posts, the graphs show that it is the most popular amongst my target audience.

Market Research on Title

2010-05-04T11:47:00.001-07:00

I conducted some market research over the title of my film over the past few days and here are the results.
I asked 25 people what they thought on the titles and here are the results;
1) Grief - 3
2) Affliction - 10
3) Desolation - 6
4) Malaise - 4
5) i can't deal with it... - 2

They reported that Affliction was the best for the title, purely because it was easier to understand and it sounds most realistic as a movie title. like Desolation, it sounds good, but less people understood it. Greif and Malaise are easily understood but they do not sound right as a movie title. Also "i can't deal with it..." just sound too farfetched for a film title.

Possible Title of the film

2010-05-04T11:46:00.002-07:00

As the film is about coping with depression i thought that it would be fitting to have a title the represents this. Here are some examples below;
1) Greif
2) Affliction
3) Desolation
4) Malaise
5) i can't deal with it...

I think that all of these easily represent the sorrow and grief that the main character will be feeling.

Final Choice on Music.

2010-05-04T11:46:00.001-07:00

The final choice of the music i am using is one from an uncopyrighted CD from school.
i feel it is perfect for the film because it is exactly the right length, it rises gently with slow guitar strumming and finishes on a melow dramatic strum release.
example below.

Examples of music

2010-05-04T11:45:00.002-07:00

Below are a few examples of what i consider to be the music i will use in my film.

What sort of music i will need?

2010-05-04T11:45:00.001-07:00

Thinking about the type of music i need, i have decided that i would need slow paced mellow music. Possibly instrumental with just one or two instruments playing at each time for example a guitar or piano, This is because just having those playing quietly at a slow pace will completely connote the drama genre. The music will seem sad and along with the music, it will bring the film opening to life.

What Props will i need?

2010-05-04T11:42:00.000-07:00

There are a few props that i will need for my film opening, They are vital to help convey the distress that my main character needs.
Firstly i will need a bottle of whiskey and a glass, I think it is important that the glass is an oldfashioned glass which could possibly give the connotations that he is at his grandfathers house, or the house he is in belongs to an old fashioned.
Also i find that having a whiskey bottle has connotes that he is depressed and has negative aspects to his life.
Another prop that i will need is some pills. This is to show that he is on medication for something. This along with the whiskey, it will heavily show that the main character is depressed. Obviously the pills i am using will be completely harmless and the whiskey will be fake, but the fact that it all looks real help it be effective.

Actors

2010-05-04T11:41:00.002-07:00

I am using James forbes for my main cast. i thought it would be extremely significant that he was the only person in the film, This is because with the links to depression and troubles i thought it should be significant that its him, alone, dealing with his issues.
James is perfect for the role because he looks good for the role, he looks older than 16, and is a natural in front of the camera.

Final Locations, inc pictures

2010-05-04T11:41:00.001-07:00

I filmed the first scene at a cemetery so i went to sutton cemetery to film. The setting was brilliant, it was a nice, sunny day and the landscape was perfect. There was nothing in the background except for tree's and blue sky. This helped convey the genre of the film.

The second scene was in my kitchen/dining room. I felt this was the best choice because it was easy to use, the lighting was automatically done due to faded windows and the mise en scene was the exact right colour. Also i felt it was good because it was an average kitchen. Unlike most films which would use the general conventions of a british drama, for example a dingy council flat. Where as i live in a very middle class environment and felt it was important to show that everyone has problems.

Locations for my film opening

2010-05-04T11:40:00.002-07:00

The first location is the graveyard, so i will need a local cemetery to film in on a sunny day. This is because cemetery's automatically have connotations of the horror genre, so i have to do whatever i can to steer well clear of that. For example it is very important that it is a light sunny day with birds tweating. This is because they automatically convey the opposite connotations.

The second location will have to be a dining room in a house. The mise en scene will have to be blank boring looking house, extremely bland, i want it to be yellows/browns and beige colours. This is important because i want to show the finer details of this persons life, for example not a lot of money, old fashioned etc.

My Story Board

2010-05-04T11:39:00.002-07:00

Below is my storyboard showing and explaining exactly how my film will look.

AS media storyboard: JACK CASEY

View more presentations from jackcasey92.

Why I decided to change?

2010-05-04T11:39:00.001-07:00

I then decided to change because i was not happy with the original plot. It didn't feel real enough for me and i was always concious of time. Also i thought that as this is a film important it is very important not to have a mini film, and that the footage i have should leave the audience wanting more and asking questions.

PLANNING: New proposal

2010-04-29T04:23:00.000-07:00

I have decided once again to change the film, The idea of coping with loss is still there but i am changing the loss of a friend in a war to the loss of a relative. This makes it a lot more personal to all viewers because they can all relate to it. Also having a war setting would mean i would of had to have a larger scene which would have meant that i would have gone over the limit of the time, and also it would change the genre to a drama instead of an action film.

The proposal will see a young man at a grave after multiple shot of a cemetery. the scene then cuts to his house with the young man asleep on a table, hungover, who wakes up. We find out that he is depressed after he walks into his kitchen and drinks after taking some tablets. He then walks back into the dining room and holds up a photo of his deceased relative. this is where the titles will role.

Opening Titles

2010-03-24T04:24:00.000-07:00

I am going with the opening title of SHELL SHOCK. the font i am using is called Consolas.
The font will show over a black screen in pitch black, I think an important part of the titles is the contrasting colours, and the black background with a white font is exactly what i want. The character casing is very loose on the titles as it seems to add a more serious effect to the tone of the film. The fact that each letter is standing individually helps convey this.

Opening Titles quotes

2010-03-18T05:35:00.000-07:00

I thought that it would be a good idea to have a few quotes about mental illness effecting the troops of this country.
It seems that it would help convey the plot of the film to the viewer and help them understand what is going on even before its happened.

1) "Britain faces a "ticking time bomb" of mental illness and suicide as troops return from fierce combat..." The Tories
2) "We are living in a state of constant fear"
3) "War takes a toll on Iraqi mental health"
4) "War trauma leaves physical mark"
5) "War is hell... it has an impact on the people who take part that never heals"
6) "War is terrible and beyond the understanding and experience of most people"
7) "A generation has grown up knowing only war"

Titles

2010-03-18T05:08:00.000-07:00

The title of my opening is something that i have debated over for a while.
Seeing as though my film is a war related drama, which refers to the psychological effects of war and loosing a friend, i thought it was only fitting that the opening title be something along the lines of a war related illness, here are some examples.

1) Shell Shock.
2) P . T . S . D
3) Time Bomb

Sign Post Prop.

2010-02-11T04:39:00.000-08:00

At some point in the film, a sign post will be needed to give off the hint that it is being set somewhere in Eurasia, no where specific to save from stereotypes.
The sign will not be saying anything specific other than the location and a bit of information in a generic Eurasian like language.
Below is an example of what the sign will look like, this sign happens to be a russian road sign.

Filming (House and Cemetery Scene)

2010-02-08T03:41:00.000-08:00

Date:
Saturday 20th february.
Locations:
house - My house in sutton
car - My father's car
cemetary - Camberwell Old Cemetery
Times:
Actors:
James Forbes
Clothing:
James: white shirt, jeans, black shoes?

Filming (war scene)

2010-02-08T03:36:00.000-08:00

Date:
Saturday 27th february.
Locations:
Woods - Banstead/Chipstead Woods
Times:
Actors:
0 James Forbes - Good Soldiers (main character)
0 Sam Pearce - Good Soldier (supporting role)
0 Ben - n.s - Main Villain
0 Max kurn - supporting villain
0 David Smith - supporting villain
0 Joon Han - supporting villain
Clothing:
James and sam: Army clothing
Others: Blacks, greens, browns, Military like clothing
Props:
- Air rifles x2
- Toy rifles x 3
- Pistol x 1
- Aviators (Ben - n.s)
- Black wooly hats (David and joon)
- Black boots if possible?
- As much webbing as possible.

Special Effects Testing

2010-01-25T03:28:00.000-08:00

Locations

2010-01-25T03:27:00.000-08:00

The war scene will either be shot in Banstead woods or Chipstead woods. They are both relatively near me but at the same time it is a relatively rural area and there is not a lot of people or city landscape around there.

The scene of our main character in the cemetery will be at Camberwell Old Cemetery, i am using this place as i know that, in the right weather, it is perfect for the shots. i have visited both sites on several occasions and will be showing pictures soon.

Character listing

2010-01-25T03:26:00.002-08:00

James Forbes - Chris Clayton
(the main character of the film)

Sam Pearce - James Allan
(the supporting character and Chris's best friend, dies in battle)

Ben Newman Sanders - Victor Morozov
(The Main Villain of the film, the person who Chris and James are chasing)

Max Kurn - Ivan Alekseev
David Smith - Dmitri Egorov
Joon Han - Seung Kwan
(These three characters are mainly supporting roles, but are essential for the credibility of the story line. The will be playing victor morozov's men.)

New proposed story line,

2010-01-25T03:26:00.001-08:00

WORK IN PROGRESS

Media Evaluation: new idea

2010-01-21T03:22:00.000-08:00

the new film will start of with an establishing pan of a grave yard. But to stay away from the cliche horror film, the cliche will be on a sunny day, with birds tweeting. We will see a grave stone of a certain man, with the shot holding, a man walking can be heard, and the bck of amans legs can be seen, stading in front of the grave. we pan up his body and it is not clear who he is or why he is there, in a series of flash backs we can see that he was a soldier and he is visiting the grave of a friend that has died with him in battle. After the brief shootout, we can see that the main villain who they were perusing had got away, this will be the end of my film but it will open it up for the rest of the plot if this was a full production.

Edits from Film

2010-01-21T03:18:00.000-08:00

You will have noticed the film below is really dark.
This means i will have to film my film during the day time and edit it to be darker.
Also after thinking about the time limit of my film, i have decided to do a re-write my script completely.

First time of filming.

2010-01-12T01:22:00.001-08:00

NEW camera shots

2009-12-15T03:13:00.000-08:00

Storyline

2009-12-15T03:10:00.001-08:00

The story line will stay the same except for the scenes of him as a soldier will be cut out and there will only be links to his military past, by certain clothing and pictures around his flat.

Re-Thought story line.

2009-12-08T04:39:00.001-08:00

Because i have to keep the film under 2 minutes, i have decided to re think the story line. i will have all the clips of chris leaving the rehab center and going home as a whole. The at the end when he sinks his head into his hands, i was have a quick flash back of him on patrol and then it will fade out to the title.

i will re-write the script and post it soon.

How it will be filmed

2009-12-03T04:12:00.000-08:00

I want my film to be filmed from the 1st person. I want it to be the first person in how he feels in his emotions. for example, i want the Main Character to stay in shot the whole time, but the camera angles and the lighting to help convey the emotions he feels. The lighting will have to be quite dark and gloomy and the weather will have to relatively miserable, which is lucky because it will be filmed in winter which will be perfect for me.

The Camera Shots

2009-12-01T01:12:00.000-08:00

A man signs out of a rehab centre,
(shot of the rehab clinic sign)
(shot of him signing)
walks out and sits at the bus-stop.
(long-shot)
(close up looking left)
(mid shot walking round corner)
(long-shot walking down road)
(mid-shot at the bus-stop)
(side on close up of him looking down... lifts his head back and shuts eyes)
Day dreams to when he was in a warzone in the army,
(fades out)

(fades in)
He is sitting there with a friend in a foxhole, they are both eating out of mess tins,
(mid shot of chris swain, friend comes and sits down)
dialogue
Both look rough
It is obvious that they are friends, they share a joke, he shows the other soldier a photo of his wife. He looks sad at the picture,
(close up of the photo)
Other man says “mate, are you alright?”
(camera goes back to mid shot of the two)
(fades out)

(close up of chris opining his eyes)
old man at the bus stop saying the same thing.
(mid shot of them both, old man standing over him)
We realise he has said this because the bus has arrived.
(long shot of the bus coming round the corner)
(mid shot of chris getting on the bus)
(close up of bus pass being put on the pad)
(walk down the bus)
(mid-close shot of chris sitting down We see him sit down on the bus and rest his head against the window.)
He pulls something out of his pocket, we realise it is the same picture, looking a bit tatered and torn.
(close up of the picture)

We see it a lot darker and the bus pulls up to a bus stop,
(extreme long shot of the bus pulling up, from a high angle)
we see the man get off, he looks around, very unhappy, and shuffles his jumper up because he is cold.
(extreme long shot from before of man getting off)
(mid shot from side on of sorting out his jacket, looking around)
We see him start to walk towards a council estate.
(mid shot of him walking away)
(extreme long shot)
(pans up at the building he walks too)
We see him come in the front door of the house,
(mid shot of him at the door)
(close up of the key in the lock)
(mid shot of him walking in)
and a woman looks at him, wanting to say something, but she can’t (she obviously has affections for him.)
(over the shot shoulder of the woman watching him)
(mid shot of her looking sad and walking away)
drop his stuff down and go and sit in the kitchen, while it Is still very dark. He puts his bag down and pours himself a drink, some leaflets fall out of a bag and we see they are for alcoholism.
He takes a swig, and puts his head in his hands. Next to him we zoom into a picture of him and his friend, with a poppy and a cross next to it…
(long shot through a window, light turning on)
(close up of the bag being put down)
(close up of hand on the cupboard)
(mid shot of him pulling the glass out)
(close up putting it next to the bottle)
(mid shot of him sitting down, pausing, then picking up the bottle)
(extreme close up of him pouring the drink in)
(mid shot of him taking a swig, and head in hands)
(close up of alcoholism leaflets sticking out of the bag)

He is on patrol with his friend, he is the section commander, and his friend is seen just over his shoulder.
(mid shot tracking over the shoulder)
We then see a truck and some of the enemy getting out.
He gives the signal to crouch down and he observes them more, they seem to be having an argument.
(long shot, loose camera manwork, i.e. rough and wavy.)
(can just hear them argueing)
(reaction shot of the squad)
(watches them argue more)
He looks around at his friend and they nod at each other.
(over the shoulder mid shot, from the front)
The 4 men attack and they soon realise it is an ambush.
(long shot. camera tracking with them)
get overcome with the enemy, we see two soldiers get shot and go down.
(from chris' perspective)
(reaction shot)
(see the soldier who shot them)
(reastion shot, lifting rifle and firing)
(man emerges from the bushes behind chris and fires)
We see our main character get wounded in the leg, he goes to the floor.
(mid shot from an angle to the left)
(reaction shot of friend)
(chris hits the floor)And he’s looking around for his friend,
(from chris' perspective)his friend runs to him, “hold tight, we’re getting out of here!”
(says this looking directly at the camera)We see him dragging chris
(everything goes in and out of focus,)
we see friend het shot
(all fuzzy friend goes down)
(reaction shot from the chris)
(blacks out)We see the girl outside the flat,
(side on shot of her)
We can see her silhouette through the door.
She waits for a bit, hesitates and then just walks away.(mid shot, dark lighting, with light from behind her)END

Extras: The Soldiers on the "good" side

2009-12-01T01:07:00.000-08:00

Based on the british soldier.
(Wilson's School CCF)

Extras: The enemy soldiers

2009-12-01T00:50:00.000-08:00

Supporting role: Jessica Campbell

2009-12-01T00:49:00.002-08:00

Supporting role: Hank Browning

2009-12-01T00:49:00.001-08:00

Main Character: Chris Swain

2009-12-01T00:47:00.001-08:00

Proposed story layout

2009-11-25T03:51:00.000-08:00

A man signs out of a rehab centre, walks out and sits at the busstop.
Day dreams to when he was in a warzone in the army,

He is sitting there with a friend in a foxhole, they are both eating out of mess tins,
Both look rough
It is obvious that they are friends, they share a joke, he shows the other soldier a photo of his wife. He looks sad at the picture,
Other man says “mate, are you alright?”

it fades out to an old man at the bus stop saying the same thing. We realise he has said this because the bus has arrived.
We see him sit down on the bus and rest his head against the window. He pulls sits down and pulls something out of his pocket, we realise it is the same picture, looking a bit tatered and torn.
We see it a lot darker and the bus pulls up to a bus stop, we see the man get off, he looks around, very unhappy, and shuffles his jumper up because he is cold.
We see him start to walk towards a council estate.
We see him come in the front door of the house, and a woman looks at him, wanting to say something, but she can’t (she obviously has affections for him.) drop his stuff down and go and sit in the kitchen, while it Is still very dark. He puts his bag down and pours himself a drink, some leaflets fall out of a bag and we see they are for alcoholism.
He takes a swig, and puts his head in his hands. Next to him we zoom into a picture of him and his friend, with a poppy and a cross next to it…

He is on patrol with his friend, he is the section commander, and his friend is seen just over his shoulder. We then see a truck and some of the enemy getting out. He gives the signal to crouch down and he observes them more, they seem to be having an argument.
He looks around at his friend and they nod at each other.
The 8 men attack and they soon realise it is an ambush. And they get overcome with the enemy, we see two soldiers get shot and go down. We see our main character get wounded in the leg, he goes to the floor. And he’s looking around for his friend, his friend runs to him, “hold tight, I’ll go get the truck… we’re getting out of here!”
We see him run into the croud and havoc, (everything goes in and our of focus,) a large explosion is heard and a bright light is seen, everything goes quiet…

We see the girl outside the flat, she rings the door bell,
We can see her silhouette through the door.
She waits for a bit, knocks again, hesitates and then just walks away.
END

What I plan to do to my Preliminary Experiment?

2009-11-03T10:13:00.001-08:00

With my preliminary experiment, I see a possibility of two choices. One being i can re film the whole thing, and start from scratch, or Two, I just add in extra scenes, i.e. close ups and different shots.

The second choice will be the easiest to do, as I will require much more shots, but at the same time it will be harder to do purely because I have to get both the actors back, who may be busy, and they will have to wear EXACTLY the same clothes and sit in EXACTLY the same place which will be very hard to do.

The first choice on the other hand allows me to shoot the whole thing again, meaning that I can have whoever I want act in it, I can choose a better location and also I can add a small story line to it, just to make the story seem attractive.
Giving it some thought and going over the points, I think that I will resort to filming the whole thing again, giving me a chance to make it better in literally every way.

Playlist of Films openings #2

2009-11-03T09:28:00.000-08:00

This play-list is a list of films that I am hoping to use as inspiration for my media studies piece. As I have said below I am stuck between choice of genre, war drama and horror, this is the second play-list featuring the opening sequences of horror films.

Playlist of Films openings

2009-11-03T08:57:00.000-08:00

This play-list is a list of films that I am hoping to use as inspiration for my media studies piece. As I am stuck between choice of genre, war drama and horror, there will be a second play-list uploaded on to this blog after with the opening sequences of horror films.
I hope that this will really help my in deciding which genre to do.

Reflection on the Practice Film

2009-11-02T03:43:00.001-08:00

Firstly, I would like to say that I am going to completely repeat the production of this continuity experiment. I am considering this as merely a test run so I can establish what is wrong and right with my filming technique.

Starting with the bad points, whether you had noticed or not, my shot reverse shot was incorrect, both shots being shot over the right shoulder of each person. Whether you had noticed or not would have meant that the viewer would feel distorted.

Along with this the camera angles were slightly over angled, and looked odd.

The plot has the man walk in and then walk straight back out after about 15 seconds, so this does not go well for continuity and the viewer will feel a bit confused. for example, "why did the man come in in the first place just to leave straight away?"

The good points though would be that he opening was good, in how i can the camera pan across as the man walked in. Also the sound is good, as in you can clearly hear the footsteps of the man walking in and also you can hear hem speaking clearly.

Practice film

2009-10-22T02:42:00.001-07:00

This practice film shows the basic shot reverse shot.

it shows a man walking into a room and having a conversation with another man.

Possible Soundtracks

2009-10-15T04:10:00.000-07:00

This post is research for the theme music for my film.
Thinking about a horror, it is clear that there is more than one type of horror and that having a certain theme tune is essential.
For example some of the songs listed below would be more ideal for a more of a psychological horror, more than an out and out blood and guts horror filled with violence and when making my film this is something i will have to take into great consideration.
Listed here are some of the song choices i am considering.

Blues Saraceno - Bong Squad

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxiVkVxYRkw

The Walker Brothers - The electrician

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TU0CMoggvk

Simon and Garfunkl - The sound of Silence

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDYxgDO5bCI

Raven - What about me?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wduQJQGMO0U

Korn - Twisted Transistor

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgWvxNh5bSs

Alien Ant Farm - Universe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YxsN2W33BM

Marilyn Manson - If I Was Your Vampire

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39kuAiz6ENA

Kasabian - Club Foot

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOSuObRNBUA

Notice that a lot of the songs listed above are not actually used as theme tunes for films. In

research i have noticed that a lot of the major films will have a specific song composed

specially for the film. This is something i will have to take into consideration as i might be

able to have friends compose a song for my film at a later date.

Below are some of the soundtracks from films that i admire.

28 weeks later:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ST2H8FWDvEA

Saw:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUl4LNEQA7I

300:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqY5lO1DKyg&feature=fvw

(Nine Inch Nails - Just Like You Imagined)

Shot Reverse Shot

2009-10-13T00:46:00.000-07:00

Shot reverse shot, also known as shot/counter shot, is a "classic Hollywood" style of continuity editing. This film technique is, when being filmed, one character is seen to be looking at a character who is often off screen, and then the second character is shown looking back at the other character. As both characters are looking at each other, when they are filmed, they both have to be facing opposite ways.

Shot reverse shot

For example, John and Dave are both seen in the shot, John facing left, and Dave facing to the right, then when they are filmed individually having a conversation, John will always be facing the left looking off screen and Dave will always be looking off screen facing right. This still gives the audience the feeling that they are both still in the room together and that nothing has changed. Where as behind the camera, the actor playing John might have left and Dave might be talking to a marker, but as he is facing the same way the audience is none the wiser. If they were both facing to the left in their individual shots, then this would disorientate the audience, who would now be feeling uncomfortable watching this clip.

Wikipedia was used as a reference

The 180 Degree Rule.

2009-10-12T03:50:00.001-07:00

180degree Rule

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