Evaluation

Evaluation

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Production

Our final piece

Production log

This is a log which I am keeping over the series of AS coursework resubmission sessions which I am attending.

1^st session

There were not a lot of people at our first session in which we are using time to resubmit our AS coursework, therefore we decided that we should form a group out of the small number of people which attended the session. This group consisted out of me, Hannah, Harriet and Holly we decided that seeing as our grades for our AS coursework were pretty low that we may as well all start again by creating an entirely new film and written work which surrounds it.

2^nd session

During this session we were all mind mapping and coming up with ideas for our production, we wanted to keep the film as simple as possible in order to make it look quite effective and professional. Consequently we decided that we should try and avoid having dialogue or actors faces within the shot, this would make our filming process a lot easier and hopefully make our short film look more professional because we will not be relying on the characters acting abilities to tell the story instead the camera shots, angles and transitions will be telling a story.

3^rd session

We spent this media session building up our story and planning out our opening sequence in order to make sure that all of our group have a strong idea of what is going on within our opening sequence and where the film would be going. As a group we all began to build up the story and discussed shots and camera angles which we thought would be appropriate to the story. We also began to distribute roles within the group to distinguish who is going to be completing certain parts of the research and planning section.

4^th session

Now that we all had an idea of what we were meant to be getting on with we then decided that it would be easier for us to complete our work on a blog, therefore we decided to create a blog on the popular website Blogger. Creating a blog meant that our work will be more organised and show a much more creative way of presenting our work, the first thing which we all did on our blogs was create 4 different sections for research, planning, production and evaluation, subsequently making our work in a much more organised format.

5^th session

Now that all of our roles have been assigned we thought it would be a good idea if our whole group sat down and wrote the script together. Once we got the script all written I then began working on the storyboard. I am finding the story board pretty difficult, I am taking my time on it because drawing isn’t really my strength. Therefore I decided to begin drafting the questionnaire which is part of the research and planning section. During this session also Holly began working on researching into institutions which are similar to our product. Meanwhile Harriet worked on applying Todorov’s theory to our work and Hannah wrote the treatment for our film.

6^th session

In order to figure out how our opening sequence will be received by our audience and whether or not we should alter some of the things within the story. To make the questionnaire and results look slightly more creative looking I have decided that I think that it would be a good idea to present them by use of Excel and PowerPoint. I am going to present the results in a pie chart and then put both the questionnaire and the results onto a PowerPoint presentation, and then upload it to slide share where I can then embed the URL into my blog. I think this will give extra creativity marks.

7^th session

During this session I put all of our results from the questionnaire together, this meant that I could now calculate the percentages of people which answered each question then input it into a spread sheet; once I had done this I then put the results into pie charts. I managed to get all of this done and put onto a PowerPoint presentation in one session. During this time Hannah completed the sound research and Harriet completed lighting research.

8^th session

Now that I have finished the questionnaire and the results I have decided to go back to completing the storyboard. I managed to also get this done within this session, although I do wish I had completed the storyboard in colour in order to make things slightly clearer for us to understand once we get to the filming process. Our group also discussed when is good for us all to film, it seems that we all have pretty busy schedules therefore it is difficult for us all to find time to film. Our filming shouldn’t take very long because we are all going to take part within the film and hopefully our planning work will also make the filming process run smoothly.

9^th session

We have missed out on a couple of sessions due to half term, therefore our group made sure that we all finished the tasks which we were set to do from the research and planning section. We then got a majority of filming done in this session; we went to Hannah’s house initially where we made sure that we got all of shots which had to be filmed in an inside environment done. We were quite pressed for time but hopefully our shots haven’t reflected this anxiety. We then drove to Twyford to capture the other shots; I tried to make sure that we got quite a lot of rushes so that we had a lot to work with but being quite short on time made this difficult.

We haven’t been that organised with our work which is very frustrating, I don’t think that our group have so far worked very well together because we all have quite a lot going on at the moment therefore re-submitting our coursework wasn’t really the main priority which is a shame. I do think that we all work well under pressure therefore we will manage to get the work done just in time.

I am currently working on the evaluation of our opening sequence; I am trying to make it as detailed as possible in order to obtain high marks there because I have lost marks in the past on my evaluating skills. We have decided to divide the seven questions which make up the evaluation out between the group, with a majority of our group doing 2 of the questions each.

Preliminary task

Planning

Shot list

Shot List Table

No.	Shot type	Angle	Movement	Subject (person/prop etc)	Location	Transition
1	Institutional title	Institutional title	Institutional title	Institutional title	Institutional title	Fade out
2	Film title and production	Film title and production	Film title and production	Film title and production	Film title and production	Fade out
3	Extreme close up	Mid level shot	Panning to follow baseball bat	Baseball bat and metal railings	Train station	Jump cut
4	Cast titles	Cast titles	Cast titles	Cast titles	Cast titles	Fade out
5	Close up	Low angle	Panning to follow footsteps	Actor 1  wearing timberland boots slowly walking	Train station	Jump cut
6	Cast titles	Cast titles	Cast titles	Cast titles	Cast titles	Fade
7	Close up	High angle	Still camera focusing in on debit card and ‘lines’	Actor 2 cutting ‘drugs’  ( crushed paracetamol) with a debit card	Hannah’s garage	Straight cut
8	Cast titles	Cast titles	Cast titles	Cast titles	Cast titles	Fade
9	Extreme close up	High angle	Either still camera or panning camera on the ‘drugs’ being snorted	Crushed  paracetamol, with Actor 2 pretending to snort them	Hannah’s garage	Jump cut
10	Cast titles	Cast titles	Cast titles	Cast titles	Cast titles	Fade
11	Mid/close up	Tilted high angle	Still camera focusing on fast train	Fast train	Train station	Jump cut
12	Film title	Film title	Zoom in to the title ‘Print’	Film title	Film title	Fade
13	Bird’s eye view (crane shot)	High angle	Still camera focusing on the table	Actor 2 snorting, and a table which contains, crushed paracetamol, beer bottles, cigarettes etc.	Hannah’s garage	Jump cut
14	Close up	Low angle	Zoom in on the timberland shoes as actor 2 is walking away	Actor one carrying baseball bat and wearing timberland boots	Train station	Jump cut
15	Close up	Mid angle	Still camera focusing on shot glass being lifted and then put back down	Actor 2 lifting shot glass	Hannah’s garage	Jump cut
16	Close up	Mid angle	Still camera focusing on train doors opening	Train doors opening	Train station	Jump cut
17	Mid shot	Eye level	Still camera focusing on actor ones hand as he knocks the door	Actor one knocking door	Hannah’s garage	Jump cut
18	Close up	Tilted low angle	Zoom out off crowd getting off the train	Crowd walking off train	Train station	Jump cut
19	Close up	Worms eye view	Zoom out from actor 2s shoes to show whole lower body	Actor 1 standing on train	Train station	Jump cut

20	Close up	Worms eye view	Still camera focusing on actor 2 shoes	Actor 2 facing the camera as train leaves	Train station	Jump cut
21	Close up	Worms eye view – match on action from no.17	Still focusing on actor one shoes as he enters building	Actor one holding baseball bat beside his legs and door closing	Hannah’ s garage	Jump cut
22	Close up	Low angle	Still, focusing on objects on table	Mobile phone, card, drugs, beer bottles, shot glass cigarettes etc.  on the table	Hannah’s garage	Jump cut
23	Extreme close up	High angle	Still focusing on actor 1s hand knocking on door	Actor 1s knocking on door	Hannah’s garage	Jump cut
24	Repeat shot of 22	Repeat shot of 22	Repeat shot of 22	Repeat shot of 22	Repeat shot of 22	Repeat shot of 22
25	Mid shot	Worms eye view	Still camera focusing on both actor 1 and 2	Actor 2 walking away from camera and actor 1 walking towards actor 2 with baseball bat	Train station	Jump cut
26	Mid shot	Low angle	Still camera focusing on both actor 1 and 2	Actor 1 pushing actor 2 into railings	Train station	Jump cut
27	Mid shot	Eye level	Still, focusing on actor 2 walking towards camera	Actor 2 walking towards camera	Train station	Jump cut
28	Close up	Eye level	Zoom in, on phone as actor 2 retrieves it from her bag	Actor 2 getting mobile out of her bag	Train station	Jump cut
29	Close up	Just below eye level	Tracking actor 2 as she walks away and dials on her phone, and places it to her ear	Actor 2 dialling on her phone, and placing it to her ear	Train station	Jump cut
30	Side, mid shot	Just below eye level	Camera tracking actor 2 walking away, whilst phone is to her ear	Actor 2 with her phone	Train station	Jump cut
31	Mid shot	High angle	Camera pans to the right focusing on the floor where actor 3 lies	Partially open door showing, broken glass, mobile phone, beer bottles, shot glasses, cigarettes on floor and actor 3s legs lying  on the ground	Hannah’s garage	Jump cut
32	Mid shot	High angle	Pull focus to actor 3s legs	Actor 3 lying on the ground surrounded by  broken glass, mobile phone, beer bottles, shot glasses, cigarettes	Hannah’s garage	Jump cut
	END OF OPENING SEQUENCE	END OF OPENING SEQUENCE	END OF OPENING SEQUENCE	END OF OPENING SEQUENCE	END OF OPENING SEQUENCE	END OF OPENING SEQUENCE

Script

PRINT

Screenplay By:
FRAN MATTHEWS, HANNAH BAKER, HARRIET HEARN AND HOLLY STEVENS

16^TH March 2011

2011

SCENE 1. SHOT 1. PROLOUGE

Extreme close up – pan to follow baseball bat against fence
Sound of baseball bat against metal fence

Institutional titles

SHOT 2.
Panning to follow footsteps
Sound of footsteps/no sound
(sound of baseball bat on fence)

Cast titles

Jump cut

SHOT 3.Close up of credit card cutting up drugs
Diegetic sound (laughter and voices in background)

Cast titles

Fade out

SHOT 4.Extreme close up, either still camera or panning to follow drugs being snorted
Diegetic sound as before

Cast titles

Jump cut

SHOT 5.Close up, slightly tilted angle of fast speed train
Diegetic sound of train passing

Film title

Fade

SHOT 6.Birds eye view of women snorting cocaine
Diegetic sound of women snorting cocaine

Jump Cut

SHOT 7.Low angle view of a cigarette – Extreme close up of man walking away (same man with the baseball bat)
Diegetic sound of footsteps

Jump cut

SHOT 8.Close up of shot glass, shot glass is picked up drunk and put back down
Diegetic sound

Jump cut

SHOT 9.
Close up of train doors opening
Diegetic sound of train doors

Jump Cut

SHOT 10.Mid shot of man with baseball bat entering a building (external door) wearing hoody and baseball cap

Jump cut

SHOT 11.Close up of a crowd leaving the train

Jump cut

SHOT 12
Worms eye view – finally a young girl gets off – wearing pencil skirt and heels

Jump cut

SHOT 13 Worms eye view of a girl standing facing the camera as the train leaves station
Diegetic sound of train leaving

Jump cut

SHOT 14Match on action from shot 10 – close up worms eye view of woman entering building – baseball bat just in shot whilst the door closes behind him

Jump cut

SHOT 15.Low angle shot off a table containing mobile phone and credit card, bags of drugs, vodka bottles and shot glass
Diegetic sound of chatting and laughter

Jump cut

SHOT 16.Close up of fist knocking on door

Jump cut

SHOT 17.Repeat of shot 15 – Sound of chatting and laughter stops
Diegetic sound of door knocking

Jump cut

SHOT 18.
Worms eye view of women walking away from camera (same railings as man with baseball bat) man with baseball bat running towards the woman

Jump cut

SHOT 19.
Low mid shot of man with baseball bat in hand running past woman and pushing her against railings and fence
diegetic sound of women shouting to man

Jump cut

SHOT 20.
Mid shot of woman walking towards camera

Jump cut

SHOT 21.
Close up – women getting mobile phone out of her handbag

Jump cut

SHOT 22.
Camera tracking women walking away

Jump cut

SHOT 23.
Close up of women dialling of woman on her phone, pressing contacts and call

Jump cut

SHOT 24.
Side angle – Camera tracking women walking, women placing phone to her ear

Jump cut

SHOT 25.
Shot of partly opened door, camera tracks into room and pans to the right

Jump cut

SHOT 26.
Pull focus from mobile phone vibrating and ringing to man lying on the floor

Fade

Proplist

Prop list

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Acting Schedule

Acting schedule

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Film synopsis

Film Title: Print

Genre: Drama

“Revenge can be sweet but this will be sweeter.”

A plan that has been playing over and over in his head seems the only and ultimate way to release his agony.  With the help of his girlfriend, JAKE vows to pay back the years that have been shadowed in pain.  A foolproof plan, a devoted girlfriend and the greatest goal...one moment with every potential for disaster.

Storyboard

Storyboard

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Location Recce

ACTIVITY	IS THE LOCATION SUITABLE FOR PRODUCTION?	ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
Look around the location.	It looks suitable for the genre of our short film and the effect which we are trying to create	It is also accessible to all members of our group
Talk to people there, organise filming permissions.	We have permission to film in this location, we also have written permission	It’s easy for all the members to get too, as its local and we have transport
Identify the equipment you need to use.	Camera, tripod	It’s accessible to use this in this location, as there is enough space
Examine and identify any potential health and safety issues	The garage has many obstructions, but we need this for our mis-en-scene	It’s accessible to use this in this location, as there is enough space
Check the position of the sun and lighting conditions.	We are filming inside, so lighting doesn’t matter as we are using artificial not natural	There is enough lights in the garage that we need for that part of the film
Look for interesting shots and camera angles.	We are able to do a variety of shots in this location – due to different levels of shelving etc being available to us	A variety of camera shots can be used due to the vast space of the garage
Check the electricity supply. (For the majority of exterior locations you will be using battery power)	There is enough plugs to charge the camera due to our location being interior	We our also using our camera inside which us allows to charge it whilst filming
Do a test sound/video recording and check for potential noise problems (traffic noise may be a problem; is a location on a main flight path to an airport?)	There is no traffic noise due to the fact our location is interior	The location is in a rural place which doesn’t affect our sound.
Confirm times and dates with technical crew/actors or anybody you are interviewing, etc.	We have set a date which is suitable for both our actors and the members of our group	We will contact our actors a couple of days before to remind them
Arrange car parking, access, loading, security, where possible.	There is enough parking and security is high due to our location being in someone’s property
Make sure everybody concerned with your video production knows what is happening and what is expected of them when on location.	We have given our actors a script to read through and assigned camera men etc	We will do a run through before filming and check everything is running smoothly

Treatment

Treatment

·       The action: identify the event your idea is based around; what actually happens (discovery of a body, an illicit meeting, a witness seeing a crime being committed, a criminal act taking place, a telephone call, a chase, a short journey etc)?

Our opening sequence is based around the theme of drugs and violence to create a stereotypical gangster genre opening. The identity of the men is kept mysterious at all times as you never see their face as the camera is mainly focused on match on actions of feet walking. The only faces that are shown throughout the film are those of the girls. This creates a mysterious and dangerous atmosphere.  The opening is very fast pace, with very short clips to highlight the dramatic, thrilling narrative. The opening sequence starts off with a man pulling a golf club along the railings of an alleyway and clips of people snorting drugs. A young girl then steps off a train and collides with the man in the alleyway. The film then ends with a death – a young man’s body found on the floor, highlighting that he has been murdered from a severe act of anger.

·       The theme(s): what should it make the audience think about or feel, what ‘issues’ will it raise (revenge, sexuality, voyeurism, stalking, obsession, greed etc)?

The main themes within our film are drugs, violence, danger, anger and death, which are very common themes within the gangster genre.  We wanted to create the sense of danger as though something bad it about to occur. We created this atmosphere by having a very fast paced soundtrack in the background, and rapid clips to create a thrilling pace.

Ø  The narrative: how is it structured - classic narrative pattern or break with convention, real time or different time zones, flashbacks/forwards, dreams etc. Will there be dialogue? What about diegetic/ non-diegetic sound?
In our film we have challenged the conventions of Todorov’s theory as we have not opened the film with a state of equilibrium or peace, but an automatic crisis.  We have also challenged Todorov’s theory by having a non linear narrative starting at the end of the film, which causes the audience to become intrigued and want to watch more, which is an extremely important aspect for an opening sequence. However, we have not sed any flashbacks/forwards or dreams throughout our film, so have focused on a real time zone. We have used both, diegetic and non-diegetic sound throughout our film. Diegetic sound was used for the background noise, for example, the characters laughing in the background and the train zooming past and non diegetic sound was used for the ‘mood’ music added in during the editing process to create a dramatic, gripping atmosphere.

·       The character(s): who are they, identify their roles, what are their characteristics, including gender, appearance etc?

Ø  Jake: male, around 18-20, dark hair and dark eyes, slim, stereotypical “thug” who has spent years being shadowed in pain. He creates a foolproof plan to relieve his anger with the help of his girlfriend.

Ø  Jakes girlfriend: female, around 18-20, blonde hair and blue eyes. She is helping her boyfriend, Jake to create a plan to relieve his anger that has been shadowing over him.

Ø  Other girl: short bright blonde hair, slim. Hard drug and alcohol user. She is taking drugs and drinking shots in the room where the man ends up being killed.

Ø  Victim: male, around 18-20, dark hair and dark eyes part of a rival gang to Jake’s. Hard drug and alcohol user.

·       The setting and choice of location: where is it set?

Our first setting is a supposed to be a dark, gloomy, run down room with grubby, old furniture where they are doing drugs. We decided to film this in Hannah’s garage as there are heaps of old furniture that we could use for props and the background wall of the garage is dark and gloomy to create a dramatic, dangerous atmosphere. Our second location is going to be at Twyford Station so that we can film fast trains to emphasise the fast paces, dangerous narrative and also so we can use the alleyway at the station to film the part with the golf club.

·       The mise-en-scene: identify colours, lighting, dress codes, the overall visual look.

The whole of our film is going to be dark and gloomy to highlight the danger and rebellious lifestyle. After researching into many gangster films we found that a common convention is the use of shady lighting, therefore, we have decided to make our film black and white in the editing process. We are going to dress our characters in very basic and “stereotypical” ways. We have dressed Jake in a baseball cap and tracksuit with the hood up to make him look like a “stereotypical” modern day gangster. His whole outfit is going to be dark colours, once again to add to the dark, dangerous lifestyle.  Jakes girlfriend is going to be dressed in colour and big high heels to look like a stereotypical “gangsters mole”

·       The camera work: the style you are aiming for                             

We are going to use a range of shots throughout our opening sequence. However, we are especially going to use many close-up shots to magnify an object (the feet walking) and highlight the importance of what is happening (someone is on a mission) and long shots to also highlight the props within the mis-en-scene. We are also going to use high angle shots to highlight the low moods and status of the gangs and drug users. We are also going to use match on action shots of different people knocking on doors and walking to create a thrilling effect.

·       The editing: edited as a continuous sequence, use of cross cutting, use of montage, or combination?

Our film is a montage of very quick shots to create a fast paced, dramatic narrative based on drugs, violence and danger.

·       Group Responses?

We are all extremely happy with our storyboard and think that it will be exciting to film. However, we just need to make sure that we leave enough time to film both locations, and have a practice run before hand

·       Teacher’s response?

·       Our teacher was very happy with our storyline and thought that it would be dramatic and effective.