Whilst looking into inspirations for our project I thought about using the usual horror technique of a character blocking the bad guy from view until the character walks off of the screen so the bad guy is clearly seen. In our project the bad guy isnt neccesarily 'bad' but we want to show the character being 'stalked'. We dont want to portray the film as being a horror so we will only use this technique once.
We also want to use the P.O.V shot from the stalkers eyes looking through bushes (or trees) where the audience can clearly see the other character but the character cant see the stalker. These techiques are generic to horror films but we hope to show it in a differnet light.
Such films that follow these techniques are Halloween (1978), Blair Witch(1999) and Dog Soldiers (2002) amongst a million others...
Wednesday, 25 April 2012
Walking Dead
The first time I started watching Walking Dead I thought it would be an
original, generic, boring zombie series, but I am so hooked!
Walking dead starts off with a lone police officer who wakes up after an accident in an abandoned hospital. He soon realises that all is not right when the dead begin to rise. We then follow the police officer as he tries to find his wife and child meeting survivors (who have their own stories) on the way.
Just like Lost, walking dead introduces us to various characters and we get a glimpse into their situations and how they survived the zombie apocalypse. It also features a lot of stars who are well known to other films.
Made from the comics, walking dead has suspense, twists and plenty of gore. It is also generating a lot of fans and I’m one of them.
We are currently on series two.
Walking dead starts off with a lone police officer who wakes up after an accident in an abandoned hospital. He soon realises that all is not right when the dead begin to rise. We then follow the police officer as he tries to find his wife and child meeting survivors (who have their own stories) on the way.
Just like Lost, walking dead introduces us to various characters and we get a glimpse into their situations and how they survived the zombie apocalypse. It also features a lot of stars who are well known to other films.
Made from the comics, walking dead has suspense, twists and plenty of gore. It is also generating a lot of fans and I’m one of them.
We are currently on series two.
Group meeting 5
After one of our workshops we got together and decided to
scout locations. We all agreed that the house scene would be shot in Jens
apartment (we knew it wasn’t student accommodation so it wouldn’t look tacky).
We needed to find a graveyard scene and an appropriate alleyway for the final
scene.
Whilst we were pitching our idea our tutor and one member of
our course knew a suitable graveyard within walking distance. We agreed to go
and have a look and hopefully plan out in detail where we would place the
actors and shoot the scenes.
Monday, 23 April 2012
Schedule
Week commencing 23rd April
- Monday: Meet at 5pm outside University to go look around several graveyards to find the graveyard location.
- Tuesday: Meet at 2pm to go to Jen's house to set up ready for a shoot at 5pm with one of the characters.
- Wednesday: Meet at 10am at Jen's house to finish the house scene from the night before and then film in the surrounding streets of the shots of the girl going to work and then shots of the man in the car.
- Thursday: Meet at 10am to film the graveyard scene and afterwards film the confrontation scene.
Week commencing 30th April
- Monday: Jen's house or edit suite to either film any extra footage we missed or to start the editing (depending on if we need any extra footage)
- Tuesday: Meet at edit suite to do the assembly and the rough cut
- Wednesday: Meet at the edit suite to carry on with the editing and possibly start on the sound
- Thursday: Meet at University for a tutorial and then carry on with editing
Group meeting 4
Once we pitched the project idea and consulted our tutor and group, we took their comments on board and started to make our project stronger.
As we delegated the jobs out before we all decided to work on these. I started to create a script for the ending of the project but also produce a sound list for the days when we start filming. As a group we decided to create a schedule for the days the next two weeks so we knew when we were filming, where and what. We also organised days for post production and who was attending on which days (we did this due to the editing suites being too small to cater six people).
As we delegated the jobs out before we all decided to work on these. I started to create a script for the ending of the project but also produce a sound list for the days when we start filming. As a group we decided to create a schedule for the days the next two weeks so we knew when we were filming, where and what. We also organised days for post production and who was attending on which days (we did this due to the editing suites being too small to cater six people).
Third meeting
As a group we decided to meet and deliver our ideas in person. We all had various ideas but we managed to whittle it down to a storyline we all had a say in and felt comfortable creating. For this idea we didnt have any solid inspirations, it came about from the top of our heads and in some cases it is what we wanted to experiment with ( using various camera angles). For our second idea, Mark came up with an idea that we all liked, however this piece would be comedic and didnt have a strong enough background.
Pitching and idea.
Pitching and idea.
Wednesday, 18 April 2012
Inspiration
Whilst in the siminar we were introduced to a number of drama short films. Each film was created by a different director. Out of all the short films three stood out for me.
Pudding Bowl - Vanessa Caswill
Pudding Bowl is a short comedy drama by Vanessa Caswill. I respected
what Vanessa had created and I thought pudding bowl was shot brilliantly. The
props and costumes (that were made to look like it was shot in the 1950/60s) looked
professional and really well done as I felt like I was in that era from an
audience prospective. However, as for the storyline I didn’t understand nor
like what was happening.
A young girl is sat in the living room cutting images out of
a magazine and using glue to stick them onto a paper collage. Her older brother
(looking bored) is sat not far from her when his friends bang on the window
asking him to come out. Sadistically he puts the glue onto his sister’s hair
and calls his mum as a distraction to go out and play. Their mother annoyed and
frantic blames the girl and chops off most of the poor girl’s long hair into an
ugly bowl cut.
The girl now upset finds her mothers tights and imagines
that she has her hair back (she puts the stocking on her head). She then proceeds
to go outside where she sees her brother and his friends playing. Discreetly
she steals one of the boy’s bikes and rides off while the boys chase her to get
it back. We are then sent into the future where the girl is grown up still
riding the bike. She now has long black hair that she gleefully swishes in the
breeze. Her brother and his friends (now older men) are chasing her to get the
bike back.
When I watched the film I didn’t
know the significance behind the story. Maybe Vanessa didn’t want us to exactly
know but rather make our own mind up on what is happening in the scenes. Visually
it was shot brilliantly and the sound was crisp and clear. I thought the girl
played her part really well and her expressions were portrayed brilliantly and I
felt sorry for her as she was wrongly accused. However, I did not like the
storyline or where it was going.
About a girl - Brian Percival
About a girl is a 9 minute short drama created by Brian Percival. This drama stood out to me as
I thought it was very ambiguous (the title didn’t give anything away).
I understood that obviously it was about a girl and from the beginning shot the
audience understands this. I also thought it was cleverly pieced together and
the camera angles, sound and colour were spot on and powerful.
The film follows a 13yr old girl as she narrates her life
explaining the struggles between her divorced parents, the feeling of being
rejected, her love of Brittany Spears and being able to form a band with her
friends. The girl talks non-stop about things any 13-year old girl might talk
about.
Her monologue is interrupted and intercut with
different scenes of her with her family and her dad; her in a perfume department,
sitting on a bench, singing and on the back of a bus.
explaining the struggles between her divorced parents, the feeling of being
rejected, her love of Brittany Spears and being able to form a band with her
friends. The girl talks non-stop about things any 13-year old girl might talk
about.
Her monologue is interrupted and intercut with
different scenes of her with her family and her dad; her in a perfume department,
sitting on a bench, singing and on the back of a bus.
I found this very
inspiring as the shots are quickly cut and we are placed in different parts of Manchester
with the girl’s dialogue still going along on top of the cutting. We don’t know
where the girl is going, being from or coming back from but I thought that
maybe the director did this as it isn’t significant to the film, we are only
focusing on the girl and what she is saying.
Near the end of the drama the cuts become even more quick,
the underside to her light hearted story telling begins to get negative (a
little too grown up for her age) as she speaks about poverty, the feelings of
being alone, ignored and domestic violence. We then see the girl walking next
to a canal and she explains to use that she has become “good at hiding things”, she then throws a bag into the river and
out of the bag a dead baby is seen covered in blood.
inspiring as the shots are quickly cut and we are placed in different parts of Manchester
with the girl’s dialogue still going along on top of the cutting. We don’t know
where the girl is going, being from or coming back from but I thought that
maybe the director did this as it isn’t significant to the film, we are only
focusing on the girl and what she is saying.
Near the end of the drama the cuts become even more quick,
the underside to her light hearted story telling begins to get negative (a
little too grown up for her age) as she speaks about poverty, the feelings of
being alone, ignored and domestic violence. We then see the girl walking next
to a canal and she explains to use that she has become “good at hiding things”, she then throws a bag into the river and
out of the bag a dead baby is seen covered in blood.
This drama didn’t necessarily inspire me for the drama we
are asked to produce. However, I thought that the use of quick cuts and the dialogue
running over the top made it very unique and watchable. I also like the use of ambiguity
from the beginning to the end; we don’t necessarily know where the story is
going or how it’s going end. I found the end scene very visually shocking as I
felt quite un-comfortable watching it, but looking back I realised where the
director was taking us with the girl talking about various interests but also
bringing back some of the negativity. He wanted to show us that this in some
cases is normal life, for example underage pregnancies, feeling of being alone
and living in deprived areas and the effects of this.
are asked to produce. However, I thought that the use of quick cuts and the dialogue
running over the top made it very unique and watchable. I also like the use of ambiguity
from the beginning to the end; we don’t necessarily know where the story is
going or how it’s going end. I found the end scene very visually shocking as I
felt quite un-comfortable watching it, but looking back I realised where the
director was taking us with the girl talking about various interests but also
bringing back some of the negativity. He wanted to show us that this in some
cases is normal life, for example underage pregnancies, feeling of being alone
and living in deprived areas and the effects of this.
Facebook page.
After our first meeting we decided to think of some ideas over the easter holidays. To help voice our opinions and gather feedback from the group Fraser created a facebook page. This was very beneficial as we all kept in regular contact on possible ideas for the project. From the ideas that we each generated and put up on the facebook page, a story line had begun to take form.
We also added links as inspiration to back up to our ideas.
Tuesday, 17 April 2012
First meeting.
For the first meeting we decided to assign roles for ourselves.
We all roughly jotted down what each person would be contributing to out of group sessions for project the the production folder.
This is what I jotted down-
For the last two projects I was the Director and Camera Operator so I had to choose a different role. I wanted to try Editing but someone else also wanted to do this job for the last project but didnt have a chance to so I obliged on given them that job. I was then given the job of Sound Recordist which I wasnt too keen on.
Going through the roles on what we should do out of university I realised that some of roles had already been completed by members of the group which I was dismayed at as they didnt consult the group to begin with.
However, I was willing to complete any task given and I chose to complete the Parashoot form. I also agreed to write an initial script for one of our chosen ideas and complete the schedule when the time was needed for it. To be fair on everyone we also agreed to complete the storyboards, initial treatments and final treatment together as a group.
We all roughly jotted down what each person would be contributing to out of group sessions for project the the production folder.
This is what I jotted down-
For the last two projects I was the Director and Camera Operator so I had to choose a different role. I wanted to try Editing but someone else also wanted to do this job for the last project but didnt have a chance to so I obliged on given them that job. I was then given the job of Sound Recordist which I wasnt too keen on.
Going through the roles on what we should do out of university I realised that some of roles had already been completed by members of the group which I was dismayed at as they didnt consult the group to begin with.
However, I was willing to complete any task given and I chose to complete the Parashoot form. I also agreed to write an initial script for one of our chosen ideas and complete the schedule when the time was needed for it. To be fair on everyone we also agreed to complete the storyboards, initial treatments and final treatment together as a group.
Last Project..Pheww.
So we were given our next project, the much awaited Drama project. Looking over the objectives for this piece I realised we were working in a group of 6. The positives of this meant we all would harbour fresh ideas to input into the project with lots more hands at the ready to help with the making and post production of the piece. However, through experience of being in a large group I thought this may complicate the project. Some people may be pushed to the back and some peoples egos may take control. I also thought that with the amount of people, some members will decide upon themselves to take most of the work load rather than sharing it out amongst the group.
With the negatives aside I joined the group who I was with for the documentary project as we all adapted with each other well and believed we did a successful job in creating the documentary. Jen then joined our group as she is hard working and commited.
Ojective
For this project we are asked to create a 5 minute drama films that conveys the notion of 'Journey'.
We are to use a maximum of 3 characters and a maximum of 3 locations.
We are to consider mise-en-scene the strong use of sound design and synch sound.
With the negatives aside I joined the group who I was with for the documentary project as we all adapted with each other well and believed we did a successful job in creating the documentary. Jen then joined our group as she is hard working and commited.
Ojective
For this project we are asked to create a 5 minute drama films that conveys the notion of 'Journey'.
We are to use a maximum of 3 characters and a maximum of 3 locations.
We are to consider mise-en-scene the strong use of sound design and synch sound.
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