Monday, 24 January 2011

Reflective Blog on Current Progress

Retrospectively looking back at the SWOT Analysis produced in the early stages of our planning, many of the weaknesses and limitations we knew would face us have actually caused more difficulty than we initially thought they would. By looking to achieve the best film possible, we created the storyboards and any obstacles that would affect us, Nina and I had the 'cross that bridge when we come to it' mind set. Whilst neither of us took it too far knowing there are certain things we can't achieve no matter how hard we try, There have still been inconveniences that have been hard to get around.


The first is the fact that my partner is in a wheelchair making access to certain areas that are too hilly/have steps or the ground is just unconvenient very difficult. Because of this we've had to look harder for areas to film which isn't very easy living in the countryside where a lot of areas contain such anomolies.

The second was the distance. Having to travel an hour and a half to college on the bus each day, the area Nina and myself live in is quite far away and any people we know either live in Weymouth or Lyme Regis where we live. As different scenes in our trailer take place in both these areas, whoever we chose to film would have to make long journeys which made it hard to find people who were willing enough. This became a constant problem as nobody wanted to do it, and times when we found people who did, other obstacles got in the way such as exams, having completely different frees to us, and having other things to do.
The main time all of us are free is lunch time, but unfortunately the cameras can't be booked out over that time.

Finally we are ready to film. We have our actors and actresses and know when everyone is free and after careful planning and time management we will be filming very shortly.

Tuesday, 4 January 2011

Plot

The film is is a thriller and based around serious issues facing mainly young and sometimes even older men and women around the world-domestic abuse.

It begins with two people-Ella who is 15-16 years old and her boyfriend Ross who is around 20-21.
Ross starts to become possessive and jealous which leads to physical and verbal abuse, something that is seen briefly in a flashback in the trailer, and Ella becomes frightened so she decides with advice from her friends that she needs to get out.
Unfortunately the possessiveness doesn't stop there and Ross starts stalking Ella-watching her out in public, giving threatening telephone calls and so on. During this time, Ella gets a new boyfriend, which only increases his jealousy and possessiveness.
By the end of the film he has broken into her house and tried to attack her-although this is only briefly seen at the end of the trailer where you see the door opening a crack so that some suspense is left for the audience-but in a twist of events, Ella accidentally kills him whilst trying to defend herself and escapes out onto the street injured but safe.

Character Analysis

Our film is about a girl who is abused verbally and physically (although this isn’t shown in the trailer, it is implied), and because of this, we decided to use the most stereotypical representations possible so that the audience would be able to have a better understanding of the characters involved.

Ella
The main character is a girl called Ella who is around 15-16 years old. In the beginning of the trailer she is being abused by her older boyfriend Ross and because of this we wanted to portray her as weak and vulnerable. In contrast to Ross, we want her to appear quite small, and in the first scene, she witnesses a flashback of Ross towering over her whilst she is sat down. This makes her appear defenceless whilst he appears in control.
Even when she finally gets up the courage to break up with her, he still appears in control of her, and at one point a high point of view shot is used as he is high up above her and she is on the ground below walking. As the camera is focused on top of her, she appears very small and weak, which contrasts Ross even more as it is his point of view and you know he is the one looking down on her.
Ella is the one who the audience will relate too as she is the weakest, and being female helps continue this further. People will feel sorry for her and will want her to escape from Ross which will hopefully draw them in and make them want too see it.

Ross
Ross is represented as tough and masculine who appears to have the power and control-something that is brought more to light when it is contrasted against Ella's weak and vulnerable character. He is a few years older than Ella and this is obvious in the way he acts as he appears the stereotype of an insecure powerful male who has the dominance in the relationship shown at the beginning.
The only time you get to see Ross is at the beginning during a flashback Ella is having of him being violent and agressive. This furthers the mysterious elements as, by not seeing him you are tapping into the mindset of Ella who, in some of the trailer is oblivious to the fact that he is there. It makes it appear more mystifying.

Tuesday, 14 December 2010

Audience Profile & Analysis

Profile
The general target age for the audience I am basing this trailer on is from mid-teenagers to young adults as this will be the age of the characters in it. The morals brought to life in it are also more abundant with that generation because it is something that they should be aware of. Although there is no sexual content or physical violence, we decided to give the film a certificate 15 as there is some verbal abuse and aggressive behaviour.
Despite the film being targeted at both males and females, it is predominantly a female based film as the main character is a female and they will be able to connect with that character more, especially as the issues brought to light are those that affect women more than men. At the same time, the film does include some violent natured scenes and this content often appeals to men more than women so hopefully, the film appeals enough to both males and females that we will have a larger audience.
Both characters featured in the film are of a heterosexual nature and in the beginning have a relationship. The film trailer highlights him being overprotective and aggressive to his girlfriend which highlights a stereotypically male heterosexual trait. The girl on the other hand is weak and helpless, which is also typical of a girl in that position. The audience will typically be of a heterosexual background to be able to have a better understanding of what is being portrayed and because of this, there will be a larger audience to base the film on
This film is based mainly around the middle class lifestyle and there are no issues of money or poverty involved. Luckily, nowadays, people of a higher class aren’t as opposed to having involvement with people of a lower or middle class and will have no objection to watching it which means we can aim it at all classes. Some people, though, may find the nature slightly distressing or may object to their children watching it which could put them off.
The main character in the film is a student who is only around 16 years old whilst her boyfriend is around the age of 20 and would have just left. Although his occupation is never made clear, based on the stereotype we are using on him, I think the audience would assume he works somewhere in the labour field. People watching this film will be predominantly students, as that is the target age we are hoping to reach, however people of any occupation can watch it. It would be stereotyping to assume people with more professional jobs such as accountants and lawyers will object to watching it, but I believe there will be a narrower audience around that market as the narrative isn’t as appealing to that audience.
The setting for this film is in rural Britain as it makes the location appear more isolated which will be more fear-provoking for the audience as it will make them feel as if there is no one around to protect the character and will increase a sense of foreboding and loneliness. As well as this, the British film genre is accredited for bringing to light ideologies, usually about the working class, however this will make the film less frowned upon as it would be amongst some societies due to the content of it.
As it will be mainly students watching the film, education levels will vary as different people will be studying at different levels, however the film doesn’t set out to target a niche audience as the bigger an audience, the more money can be made from it and therefore people of every educational background should watch it. Although, as mentioned earlier, people with a more professional educational background may not be as likely to watch it as someone with a less professional background as, based on stereotypes, we automatically assume people with a lower level of degree will be more open minded and won’t have a problem watching films with some scenes involving aggressive behaviour.

Overall, the film is going to be targeted at as large an audience as possible, but predominantly it will be younger adults and those who are into movies with a more thrilling/adrenaline seeking nature. They will probably have an open mind to as some people would be opposed to the nature involved with the film and wouldn’t want to watch it because of this, although there is no gore involved, which would be likely to put more people off. Luckily this film targets a large audience and would be watched by people from all sorts of backgrounds and ideologies.

Analysis
The genre we decided to do was thriller, which means the film is based at people who enjoy watching films that keep them on the edge of their seat and makes them jump. Enjoying this genre myself, I am aware that it sells so well because of the adrenaline rush people get out of watching it. The scarier a film, the better the adrenaline rush and the more likely people are to want to watch it again, similar to going on thrill seeking rides such as rollercoaster’s. We tried to make this film based on a large degree of reality as this makes the audience more aware that it could actually happen and therefore it is more likely to scare them as they are left thinking ‘what if that happens to me?’
We are trying to follow the codes and conventions of a typical thriller as best as possible as this is what the audience want to see. To try and pick up on the best codes and conventions, we did some research into a few horror and thriller films, and ended up focusing on Taken, Gothika and Creep and found some common ground between them. Firstly, low key lighting is used to build up suspense and create a spooky atmosphere, which works especially well as the audience don’t know whether there is something in the dark either. As well as this, fast cuts are used when there is more action so that everything appears faster and more dramatic.
We have picked up on a few of these codes and conventions and have involved them in our film so that hopefully we can connect better with the audience.
To promote this film, we would probably put a trailer on the television, as this can be viewed by a wide audience and will get more people interested. As well as this, we might use viral marketing on web 2.0 by putting trailers on sites such as Facebook and MySpace that will be viewed by a larger audience but predominantly the target age group we’re looking to appeal too. When it came to distributing to cinemas, we would probably use a Modified Wide Release Pattern which means we would open the film up in a few large markets, and then once awareness has built up via trailers and word of mouth, we would proliferate to other markets whilst constantly advertising, and then eventually, maybe advertise on a National Level.

Monday, 29 November 2010

Limitations and Strengths of our Planning Documents

I found the planning process fairly difficult as there was so much to take into consideration. I was also worried that there would be a lot more on our shoulders, being A2 students, and that we would have too put a lot more into our productions and this pressure made it hard for us to even come up with a storyline, but once we got into it, everything fell into place.

Luckily the swot analysis allowed us too realise where our strongest and weakest points were and by noting them on paper, they become far more apparent to us. We realised that as we both live quite a distance from the college it may be difficult to film as we needed indoor environments such as houses as much as outdoor, but luckily we happen to live fairly near each other anyway so that meant we could film around the area we live rather than Weymouth. Unfortunately, we also came to an agreement that it might be challenging as the nights are now getting shorter and by the time we get back to ours from college it could be dark. As well as this, it will be hard to use actors from Weymouth whose timetables we are familiar with and we can rely on, as it may be hard for them to travel the distance but luckily we have been able to get around these problems by using the days we finish early on, to shoot and trying to shoot as much as possible in Weymouth so we don't annoy our actors.
Due to the lack of ability to go certain places, as my team mate is wheelchair bound, we would have to only film in places as flat as possible as she might struggle with hills etc. Luckily for us, most of Weymouth and other areas we want to film are flat so we won't have much difficulty.
On the other hand we were grateful for have prior experience with filming and editing during our As years, therefore we weren't complete beginners and knew what we were doing and what to expect. As well as this, we have software available to use from all over college such as Adobe Premiere Pro for editing, cameras and tripods for filming, and recording suites if we want to do voice overs etc. which meant we werent going to struggle finding equipment to use.

By presenting our planning powerpoint to the class, we were able to recieve feedback from other groups which meant we weren't solely relying on ourselves and had outsiders perspectives. We recieved both positive and negative feedback, the positive being that we had thought out the limitations that could affect us well, and that we had a good plot and believable storyline. We were also told that we the audience would be able to relate easily as the characters used are based around the same age group as well as the narrative being very contemporary, means that the teenage/young adult target age we set it at will have a better understanding of the context.
On the other hand, we also recieved feedback telling us that we need more research into demographics and archetypes which came in useful when we were creating the proper storyboard as it meant we knew where to focus on and we tried to use the right continuity and shots to portray this.
We were also told that we didn't have enough background narrative, but we didn't have the opportunity to actually provide our draft storyboard to the members of our class, which in fact shows the girl (Ella) being verbally abused in the beginning, which allowed us to set the trailer up for the audience to understand the rest of what is going on, without giving too much away. As well as this, we were told that we told to acknowledge the quality of the actors, but I believe this is a hurdle everyone has to face and we have gone out of our way to try and find the best actors possible that will be available.

In the beginning we were completely unsure about where to go with our storyline and plot so we just drafted all our ideas onto a piece of paper and came up with the basic storyline. At first I was convinced that, although we came up with a starting point and very basic storyline, we would end up doing something completely different eventually, but much to my surprise we stayed with the idea and have created a script and storyboard out of it. By drafting our initial ideas, it allowed us to see what ideas we each had and incorporate them into one idea, or come up with the best solution to overcome problems if there was a clashing of ideas. For example: I wanted to do a horror and also thought this would be the best genre to cover as we had the right weather conditions and lighting, or lack thereof, for it. On the other hand, my teammate Nina isn't a fan of horrors so we came up with an idea to do a thriller which didn't incorporate such a scary plot but meant we could still use the lack of lighting and short days usefully.

The draft storyboard and final storyboard meant that we could plan our shots to the best of our ability because they are going to be used to position our shots as correctly as possible. The difficulties we faced were that, whilst we had ideas about the location of each shot, we weren't sure of the precise locations and this means that we might need to rearrange some of the shots somewhat to suit the surroundings. On the other hand, it also means that we don't need to spend a long time sorting out the positions or remembering what we had planned to do as we have it all layed out in front of us.

Important things to consider when filming

Main Considerations:-

Mise-en-scene

  • Attire.

  • People getting in the way of the shots when filming

  • Environment: if we are filming horror, we don't want a seemingly bright environment unless it is needed for particular shots

  • Pathetic Fallacy if possible





Camera


  • Camera Angles: high, low

  • Camera movement: panning & tracking, zooming.

  • Rule of Thirds

  • 180 degree rule

  • lighting: probably low key if we are filming horror. Natural lighting when outside, so it is important to film during the day.

  • Establishing shots




Editing


  • Continuity

  • Title

  • Effects we may want to use: fade, wipe etc.

  • Making sure the sound matches the cutting.

  • timing of each shot

Sound


  • Synchronicity and asynchronicity

  • Diagetic and non-diagetic sounds (may need to obtain non-diagetic sounds from CD's or the internet)

  • Sound Bridges

  • Non-diagetic music needed over trailer.

Planning Documents

Initial Planning
Swot Analysis
Planning Powerpoint
Storyboard (Draft)
Final Storyboard
Script