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

Advertising Industry Codes of Practice

• When producing our trailer, we had to look at the list of rules and regulations that would apply to us if we were producing it on a National scale, as well as some that apply to us now filming on a smaller scale. To do this, I went to the BCAP website. BCAP stands for the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice, and it is the company responsible for setting the correct codes of practice for advertisers.
  From there I went to the Television Advertising Standards Code document. Looking at of the Regulations, it is apparent that many of them don't apply to us as our trailer is not being broadcast to such a large extent, but some of them do comply with our trailer and therefore we decided to pick out the most important and relevent ones such as:
  

Section 6: Harm & Offence

• 6.1 Advertisements must not encourage or condone violence or cruelty- This is important as our film is about someone escaping a violent relationship and our trailer includes one scene at the beginning with mild violence. Fortunately rather than promoting it, the trailer implies that domestic abuse should be stopped.


• 6.4 Advertisements must not, without good reason, contain material which is likely to cause serious distress to significant numbers of viewers-Some of the material in our trailer could be deemed slightly distressing, which is why we tried to keep the scenes as mild as possible.


• 6.7 Advertisements must not encourage or condone behaviour prejudicial to
  health and safety and advertisements must not use techniques that may
  directly harm viewers-As we are creating a thriller, some of the scenes have implied dangerous circumstances that people get into but once again we are condoning a message to people about being stalked and trying to make people more aware of the fact that it does happen.

Section 7: Children

• 7.4 Advertisements must not contain material which could lead to social, moral or psychological harm to children-Because our trailer contains a scene that could be seen as distressing, we have given it a PG rating, which means that parents don't have to let them watch it and it should only be seen with them. Other than this, our trailer focuses more on abuse within relationships and has nothing to do with child abuse therefore it is not encouraging it.

Section 10: Religion, Faith & System of Beliefs

• 10.13 No advertisement may exploit children, or the hopes or fears of any other vulnerable category of viewer-Whilst being stalked is a fear that could affect some people, we are not exploiting or condoning it and as mentioned, we are trying to increase people's awareness of an issue that does occur. The genre of the film is thriller so it is supposed to be found slightly scary but it is also supposed to bring to light just how dangerous situations like these are.

BBFC Classifications

The main things films are classified on are:

• Violence


• Sexual Nature and Nudity


• Drug and Alcohol use


• Use of Language


• Genre
  

Because our film only contains mild violence with some bad language, and has a thriller genre, we decided to give it a certificate of 15, which means it is illegal for any one under the age of 15 to watch it. This is because it is not overly distressing to teenagers who might see it, but some parents may have an objection to their younger children viewing it due to the nature of certain scenes and occasional swearing.

On the other hand, the ratings often depend on the messages and morals portrayed by the films, and if there are clear messages in them the rating is often lower. For the trailer we decided to give it a lower rating so it could be viewed by a larger number of people. To do this we used little violence and showed no bad language which brought the certificate down to a PG (Parental Guidence). This means that the trailer can be viewed by children of any age, but it is advised that a parent or guardian is present as they may not wish their children to view certain scenes. Because of this, it would allow us to advertise on a broader scale which would increase our sales figures overall.

Film classifications differ between regions and each will have their own film classification board which will decipher the certificates for individual films. Films that may be rated PG in the USA could be rated 12 in the UK for example

Response to Feedback

In the feedback we recieved, we were asked about setting and questioned on the locations we are going to use. This has been an issue for myself and Nina-my team mate-that we are still having trouble deciding on. Unfortunately, living far away from college it poses a problem as we don't want anything filmed on college grounds, and we need to get to places far away fairly quickly before it gets dark. We have planned to film it at one of our houses and are still in question as to who lives in the most sufficient area that would be easily accessible and fit with the location we want to portray. We were also faced with the problems of having a long point of view shot that would show her well in the distance but from above. Eventually we decided on filming along the marine parade in Lyme regis, where we can stand in the gardens that over look the walkway and film it from on top of there.
Another limitation we were presented with in our feedback is getting actors/actresses that can portray the atmosphere we are trying to create by pulling off the right emotion in their acting abilities. We have decided to try and use people from the drama department who already have experience in acting and will know what to do better than someone who has never done it before. They will also be less camera shy, having been on stage enough times to cope with stage fright.

We were told that our strengths were that we have really thought about the gender representation we are trying to portray which I agree with as we want our male character to appear tall and powerful whilst the female appears weak and vulnerable, highlighting the stereotypes that focus around masculinity and femininity.
As well as this, our feedback stated that the narrative we decided to use related to every day occurences that people need to be more aware of which was what Nina and I initially planned to do. We wanted to make a trailer that would portray societal morals that people should have a higher awarity of and in this case, its stalking which is becoming increasingly common nowadays expecially with the constant increase in Web 2.0

Research

I decided to focus on Gothika, a film about a professional, Miranda Grey, who works in a Phychiatric Hospital and one day wakes up as a patient accused of murder with no recollection. This film follows the genre I want to try and achieve (horror/thriller) and I have used it to try and pick out the codes and conventions used by the director so that I can better understand what I need to use to make my trailer a successful one.

In the beginning when the two female characters are talking, they are surrounded by caging and at one point the camera even looks at them through the caged walls although they are out of focus so you are able to focus on the two people. This portrays a feeling of entrapment which allows us to relate to Chloe (the girl that is hospitalised) as this is what she is feeling. It also allows the audience to get an idea of what the setting is for the film and get a feel of the overall atmosohere.

Throughout Gothika, low key lighting is used to create a spookier atmosphere. Being in the dark creates a bigger fear of the unknown as it is difficult to tell what or who could be there. Strobe lighting is an example of one form of low key lighting used, and the blue lighting creates an uneasy cold atmosphere especially as the lighting is weak anyway. As well as this, heavy rainfall is used as pathetic fallacy to try and drag down the audience's emotional state which sets them up for when she nearly hits the girl with the car. As it is during the darkness, this makes it more unexpected and allows us to relate to it more as often you can't see things in the dark and suddenly she appears in Miranda's headlights which is a very jumpy moment.

Throughout the trailer, Miranda's clothing becomes more scruffy and untidy which highlights her letting go. At the beginning she is a pyschologist and she is dressed up in a suit looking very tidy but from the moment she wakes up in the hospital her clothes stay white, boring and look untidy and her hair becomes messier. Along side this, slow cuts are used at the beginning before she goes into hospital and fading is used to allow the audience to go from scene to scene feeling at ease with little suspense. Once she wakes up in hospital, the music has a faster tempo increasing in power as the trailer continues and cutting betweeen scenes becomes faster. Although fade is still used, it is not done at the slow rate as before.

Lots of close-up and reaction shots are used during the Gothika preview to highlight as much emotion in the characters as possible, especially towards the end, when the cutting becomes faster there is more action. This allows you to feel a connection with the character as if you know them and leads you to feel the emotion that the characters are feeling at that time. By using reaction shots, it is also allowing you to know what the characters response is to that conversation. On top of this, canted angles are used twice duting the trailer. At one point it is used during a close-up on Miranda and allows you to feel her confusion and frustration, and the other time it is focusing on a photograph of the girl she nearly ran over. It is supposed to add to the mystery of what is happening and by using that particular shot in the trailer, it allows the audience to understand that it is a very mysterious plot that builds up suspence and keeps you thinking, which is very popular and a lot of people enjoy that type of storyline.

Overall this was a good trailer to focus on. Whilst our plot isn't very similar, we will be forced to film in darker conditions anyway due to the shortage in time for myself and Nina and using these codes and conventions will help us pull off that spooky atmosphere

Creep is a film that once again follows all the codes and conventions that I can relate to the film trailer i want to produce.

The trailer starts of using a hand held camera and slowly fades in then uses a point of view shot walking through a tube station towards an escalator. The slow [pace of the person whose point of view is being used, as well as a low droning sound in the background and heavy breathing makes you realise that this person is not good and makes you wonder just whose point of view it is as well as setting you up for the rest of the trailer by giving an idea of the fact that there is someone unwanted and potentially harmful in the underground station.

It then cuts to the main character, Kate, standing on the platform and a title appears saying 'missed the last train home?' at which point it cuts back to the scene and shows kate walking along the platform shouting 'hello?' By being the only one on the platform, the audience experiences a feeling of isolation which is intensified by the first scene knowing that there is someone there. When she shouts hello you are worried that they might hear her and come and find her.

As the trailer continues, it becomes darker and darker increasing the feelings of isolation and vulnerability. Hand held camera's get used frequently towards the end to give the impression of being chased, as well as providing point of view shots. Also, at one point, fading in and out quickly is used during certain shots consecutively to give the appearence of a heart beat. This adds suspense and, as its quiet during that time makes the audience more aware of the surroundings as well as feeling nervous and not knowing what to expect next.

The beginning of this trailer contains lots of bright colours, in the clothes and surroundings. This allows you to feel comfortable, safe and at ease with the trailer before it starts getting dramatic. There is slow music in the background that sounds quite sad yet relaxing which allows you to fall easily and comfortably into the trailer but at the same time makes you realise that something bad is going to happen. There is a sound bridge of the main character's (Bryan Mills played by Liam Neeson) daughter talking about how she wants to go to Paris with her friend over shots of her at the airport and an establishing shot of Paris. By starting off the trailer this way, it lets the audience understand what the film is actually about and where everything begins.

After this, there is a fast paced cut with a flash of white and a loud booming sound and the mood instantly changes. You see the plane take off and can straight away tell that now she's gone, all the problems are going to start. The phone rings and there is a close up of his daughters phone in his bag. The music also becomes very low pitched and once again sounds like its booming. As well as this, the colours become very dark and the audience automatically becomes uneasy. There is a split screen to show both father and daughter on the phone so that you can see the expressions of both, although at different times, one screen is bigger than the other so that the expression of the person talking is highlighted. Once the girl gets dragged from under the bed, her scream gets echoed so that it stays in the audiences minds and it sounds like she is getting farther away.

The final part of the trailer is taken up by Bryan on the phone to the people who have taken his daughter. It is used as a sound bridge with him telling them to give his daughter back or else he will find them. As he is saying all this, scenes from throughout the film are shown such as someone tied in a chair, and Bryan jumping off a bridge to find her. Sad classical music is played at the beginning to make the audience feel saddened, but as the trailer goes on it gets faster and more upbeat. On top of this, the cutting becomes faster and there is more action. This causes the audience to get really drawn into it until right at the very end when the music dies down and then you hear heavy breathing down the end of the phone. A voice then says 'good luck' which leaves the audience desperately wanting to know what happens next after being so drawn into it, which I believe makes it a very successful trailer.