Nadine's Evaluation

Introducing to the media industry

This is defiantly something that could be produced by a major Hollywood studio as it not only incorporates many thriller conventions – so we know it is the kind of thing that would work – but it also develops them – making it appear new and exciting. I am also led to believe this as the audience said that they “wanna find out what happens next”.
The target audience is one of the most marketable targets in the media industry as many Young adults are getting jobs while still being accommodated and feed by their parents. This means that they have more money to spend on luxury things, such as clothes, CDs and films.
Following the market idea – our product opens up a wide range of product ideas in the market. Many films, such as twilight, use their character’s faces and what they wear to sell merchandise. Our film could merchandise such products as:
• Character figures
• Camping chairs in the same style with ‘The Weasel’ printed
• Bima’s boots and hat
• Tents with ‘The Weasel’ printed

Anything can have the character’s faces on if the film became big enough. Using my previous example – Twilight now have shower curtains, plasters, pens, pencils, tops, calendars etc. with Robert Pattinson’s – Edward Cullen – face on. The possibilities are, just about, endless.

Lessons learnt and problems faced

Due to the bad things we noticed during filming, editing and after watching our preliminary we:
• Put more thought into the planning stage. We did our storyboard in more detail and thought about what to do about actors/actresses.
• We were more careful when sorting out the M-E-S.
• We thought more about continuity and were a lot more careful.
• We filmed the whole thing, being the same every time, from the different angles we had chosen. This was so we could change our minds as to what angle to use if need be and to more easily fit the takes together.
• Used a larger variety of angles and shots.

Bima and I accommodated for problems we found as we went along very well.
Our plot originally included a much larger number of actors but many told us last minute that they could not come. When we found out that Ben (whom we had already filmed the body scene with) could not make it on time we changed the plot so that he had already gone off before the movie had started and was caught by The Weasel then. On the day we found, as we were heading up to our filming location we found out that our main actress could not come due to illness, and so Bima filled in for her.
We found, as we were testing the cameras, that our HD camera that we had borrowed from school did not have a memory card. Luckily, Bima’s Mum had one that was compatible with the camera.
We realised, when we begun editing, that the footage we had of Bima stumbling through the woods while I filmed point of view shots were too dark to see when uploaded. We simply took the chair her character sat on and the one Matt’s character sat on, as well as a torch and re-filmed her getting up and going into the woods after the boys. This ended up making our opening more thrilling as it is when we came up with the idea of running around the woods in her character’s P.O.V and stumbling over to see The Weasel.
When we had completed our editing we found that our opening was too long and had to cut it down by a lot. It was very hard as we had to cut out things we were very pleased with and we thought to be very thrilling. However, we dealt with it and managed to cut about a minute or two out.
Our group did not get along very well at all and we felt that one of our members was not putting in any effort. It started arguments when Bima and I started to just issue the work between us. So Ms Menzies suggested that we tell/email Deanna the work assigned to her and if it was not done by a certain date then one of us would do it. We did the same thing with the filming dates; we came up with a fair date and did it with who ever turned up.

If I could do this project again I would arrange the dates more carefully and be sure not to leave anything to last minute. We found that by doing this we had to make do with certain things, thus not making the best opening thriller we could possibly do.

However, considering all of the problems we faced, I think we did exceedingly well.

Learning Technologies

I have not got anything to compare my abilities of using the camera as I had not done any camera work before. However, I have become more accustomed to using a video camera – especially the HD. Bima and I had to do a lot of fiddling around with it to create more space and I had a look at some of the effects it was capable of. By the end of the filming I felt very confident in handling a camera.
We did face a few problems while filming, for example – due to the time of year the lighting changed erratically. However, we managed to get around it while editing. We also forgot the tripod so it was very hard to keep steady while trying to pan for the second establishing shot.

The editing is very much the same story. Except I had used the editing software – Final Cut Express – before had while editing our preliminary.
Before editing the preliminary I watched the tutorial and then moved on to trial and error. By the end or our preliminary I was fairly confident in the basics of Final Cut Express. As I was quicker and more experienced at using the editing software Bima and I agreed that I would do all of the physical editing and she would make a creative input as to what to put where.
Due to the large amount of time I spent using the software I have become very confident in using it. I also spent many lunchtimes and study periods, using trial and error and asking other students, to work out what other effects I could use. One of the main things I learnt was rendering. For a long time I was stuck using the same type of test and same video/audio transitions, until one of the other groups taught me about rendering to make it work. This became very useful and let me use a wider range of transitions and sounds.

We did all editing – video and audio – on Final Cut Express. I was introduced to an audio editing software called Garageband on the last day of editing but decided to stick with doing it on Final Cu Express as we were pressed for time and I don’t know Garageband very well. However, I now know of it so I can look into it for my next project.

Social groups

We have used a mixture of genders, two boys and one girl. This is the usual seen in many young adult films, e.g. Harry Potter, Twilight sequel: New Moon, and Hancock. We did not mean to have little variety in races – that was purely due to lack of actors.

We have represented gender in a very stereotypical way by showing Matt’s character having dominance over Bima’s. This was especially prominent when they hear something from the wood and matt jokes it is a bear to scare Bima. Bima falls for it very quickly showing her as a typical girly girl – being gullible and not knowing much about what really lives in the countryside in that area. When she gets scared Matt promises to protect her.
The female is also represented as an easy target as The Weasel goes after her.

Our use of stereotype is good for our target audience as Young adults generally prefer protagonists that they can link to and are realistic. Boys teasing girls is a very common behaviour in teens.

Mise-En-Scene

(to look more closely after clicking it hold Ctrl and scroll forward)

I had practiced doing the mae-up for Ben's injuries on Bima. We both decided what would make it look more realistic untill we worked out a way to make it look perfect.

I created a similar injury to this Ben's arm and then created bruises on his face and thin red scratches on any showing skin.

This is an image is taken from where the camp was set up, it would have been shown in the second establishing shot, when the camera paned 360 from the fire place. Shows the isolation.


This is a picture of when we were setting up. Bima and I swapped boots to add to her girly character. You can see from here the contrast between Bima and Max. Bima is bright her clothes look nicly fitting, whereas Max is wearing duller colours and his clothes are baggy.

Camera Techniques

The P.O.V shots do not just allow the audience to see the protagonist, it allows them to know what the antagonist is doing - watching/following Bima. This gives them the advantage of knowledge that the protagonist does not have. This builds suspense as the audience are aware that Bima is being watched and know from past thrilling horrors that something bad will happen next. Due to the conventions of thrillers, a P.O.V shot of unaware people will instantly have the audience sitting on the edge of their seat.

Generic conventions

Techniques we incorporated from thrillers that we looked at before and during our planning period:
Our plot develops part of Hannibal as the setting uses dark lighting to give the audience a sense of discomfort; we have developed this by having it set in late evening/night. We are also using short takes which – due to the common use I a majority of thrillers and horrors – builds tension, the audience know that something is going to happen.
Our plot is a bit like the opening of Disturbia, in that it starts with a very cheerful atmosphere which is then changed, saddened by the death of someone. The music we have chosen when the body is found slightly resembles the music used at the end of the opening in Disturbia as it is quite sad. The setting we are using is a development of the setting used in Disturbia. They start in the country side – likewise in the Strangers – which shows isolation and ours is in the woods, also portraying isolation. The woods give the sense of confusion and misdirection. However, we do challenge Disturbia – like Hannibal – in the time of day that it is set, ours is sat in late evening/night and Disturbia in the day.
We challenged The Strangers beginning in the dialogue used. The Strangers start with a man talking very slow and tense, whereas ours is a group of young adults laughing and joking. The strangers – like Hannibal – starts with a tense atmosphere whereas our is very much relaxed – like Disturbia. Ours has kind of developed the sequence in which the events are shown as it opens up choices. The Strangers starts at the end and goes back to show how it happened. Our opening can be done in the same way as Ben is found and the rest of them film could be going back to show how it happened and then carry on to find out what happens to Bima’s character. However, ours could also carry on to only find out what happens to Bima’s character.

The biggest thriller conventions that our group use to create tension are the music we have used and POV shots. The music has a deep, rhythmic base which resembles the heart, as that gets faster the audience gets more panicked. Often they would get the sense that it is their heart beat that has raised, which is a convention of tense atmospheres. When a POV shot of unaware people/person is introduced the atmosphere is instantly tense for the audience. This is because so many thrillers and horrors use POV to show that someone is being watched by an antagonist – it also hides the identity of the antagonist, making them appear more mysterious and dangerous, people are made uncomfortable by the knowledge of not knowing.

We looked at and incorporated the conventions used in films for Young adults – our target audience.
Young adults like to have a protagonist/s that they can connect with. A protagonist that is their age and doing something that the typical young adult is thought to do. We use 16-17 year old characters and we have them out on a group camp.

Audience Reaction

The audience reaction went very well. I had a young adult watch while I filmed his reaction – to see his immediate response to each part of the opening – and asked him what his overall look on my project was.
He was amused by the banter and when Matt and Max’s characters tried to scare Bima’s. This was good as it was meant to make the audience feel connected with the protagonists.
Jonny looked as if he felt very comfortable, this acted as a good comparison to the way in which he feels when the antagonist is introduced. When ‘Pop Goes The Weasel’ is hummed I can see his face slowly getting more serious and he moves less. His breathing looks as if it is getting heavier which shows his anticipation for what is to come. By the time the clip has finished Jonny looks very immersed init.

Jonny’s overall reaction also supports our opening – in being successful in fulfilling our task.
His big smile at the end shows me that he liked it.
He found Matt (one of the actors) funny, which is good as – like I said before – we wanted the audience to connect with the protagonist. The main factor is that Jonny wanted to see what happened next – our opening pulled the audience in.

Other ‘Young adults’ that had seen our opening were excited by the fact that Ben Morris was in it. He is like our star celebrity.

Evaluation, Bima Loxley

The task for our coursework was to produce a thriller opening in which to thrill the audience and see whether what we produce could be a genuine idea for a film, by doing this we worked in groups, came up with a story board and filmed a 2 minute sequence. Whilst setting up our props, we took pictures of the set and things we thought important that could be used.

In my thriller opening, a lot of conventions such as mise-en-scene, sound and different types of shots are used.

Within mise-en-scene the area in which we filmed was a small wood. We thought this appropriate as other thrillers we watched also used this type of area. We developed this from both Disturbia and The strangers. This was useful as it created a sense of being alone in a dark place where anything could happen. We also developed a part of Hannibal, as they used low key lighting to create a sense of disco

mfort, whereas we used night light for this effect. It is commonly thought that bad things are most likely to happen at night. We challenged the idea of Disturbia as they filmed in the day showing bad things happen at any time. However filming at night was a challenge, as we did not have any lights to help us see a huge amount, but we still managed it. We did this by re-filming some parts of our film on another day when it was a bit lighter.

With regards to make up, we only used it on Ben, the character who got killed. We put a cut on his arm and a few bruises on his face. We had practised with the make up before, on myself. The people who watched the film reacted positively as they showed that they understood Ben was dead and it looked realistic.

For the effect of music and sound we had to add in most things. Whilst walking around the woods, as the girl was being followed, most sounds were produced naturally, like ambient noises of the birds, the wind and snapping of wood on the ground. These types of noises were useful and gave a sense of being more alone and that everything that was happening could be heard, even when being followed, which increases the tension. We had to dub in the song 'Pop Goes The Weasel' as it is a vital part of the film which helps to understand why the title of our film is 'The Weasel' and what the antagonist sings before he kills. We also dubbed in the sound of a snapping twig as this sound represents the antagonist stepping on one whilst watching the teenagers, which makes them look round in fright.

For the background music we had already found some songs on a website - http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/horror.html - which had free un-copywrited music on it. We used two songs and edited them to fit our film. We also thought that one of the songs is similar to one of Disturbia's. When Ben's body is found sad and slow music comes on, making us realize that he's dead.

When thinking about certain camera shots, we thought of some specific ones to use, which connect with these thriller conventions. We decided to use a lot of point of view shots, which is portrayed as the antagonist spying on the protagonists. These types of shots, we used both for the antagonist's and the protagonist's view, the change being shown subtly with a fade and change of music. We also had an establishing shot at the beginning, showing all the characters and setting and that they were in the middle of nowhere, portraying isolation.

It has been noticed that we have developed a sub-genre for our thriller. This is because the setting, lighting and make up used is quite similar to a horror movie, making ours a thriller-horror film. This isn't a bad thing though, as a lot of people are keen on these types of films; they like the scare and excitement given. I feel that the way Ben looks, lying on the ground really connects to what a horror would have, gory dead victims. Also with our chosen plot, a sequel could easily be made and still be popular and get good reviews, as this happens all the time.

Our media product represents young adults, from our research, the chosen target audience for our product would be 15 to 21 year olds, both male and female, connecting our characters to the audience. We had a problem with a lack of actors and the ones we finally could use were white British and of middle class. Using two boys and one girl in our thriller makes it a typical movie, for example, Twilight and Hancock similarly have this feature. We also felt this appropriate as this is what audiences can relate to. A role of dominance from the males is shown where both boys make fun of the girl when she is scared and they leave her in the woods alone.

If our media product were to be released by a major institution it would probably be turned into Mainstream, which means our film could become very successful as it gets released into cinemas and then onto DVD. We hope that, like with any other thriller, our idea would be appreciated as the story line is captivating and the mystery in it could end up with any type of plot twist. Also the fact that our film is a thriller-horror, as people enjoy these genres similar films have done well, for example The Ring, The Shining and Signs.

Our film offers opportunities for merchandise as well as a sequel. For example the girl's hat and Wellington boots are quite attractive and stylish for teenagers at the moment. Also anything could be made with the faces of the characters on them, like posters, calendars and clothes.

From our questionnaire, we discovered who our target audience would be and with this in mind, worked out what people of this age and others would like. There are parts in our thriller that can scare the audience, which can raise adrenaline levels and make them unsure of what could happen. Point of view shots can be terrifying as they put you in position of the character, which is both the antagonist and protagonist. When feeling as if you are being watched or watching someone it makes the audience feel tense. It is also hard to know who is who, as when the camera view is someone running it could be either character. You then realize that it is the victim running and when she looks at a dark figure in the woods, it sends shivers up people’s spines and makes them know she is going to be the next victim. 

Most shots in this film are point of view and it really makes the audience feel as if they are taking part in the film themselves. I feel that we have improved since our preliminary task, as we know a lot more about how to film and the meanings of it. There were problems during filming, for example as time went quickly by it became really dark very quickly, making the quality of our filming worsen. So we had to re-film another day. Also because we had a lack of actors, we had to change the storyboard. This could have been a big risk as it could have ruined the film, however fortunately our new idea turned out to be better. One safety problem was that we found a wire on the floor which could not be removed and as it was dark we had to be very careful as to not trip over it, we warned everyone and fortunately no one was hurt.

When editing, we used Final Cut Express. I have learnt a lot more about how to use it, even though I didn't use it as much as Nadine, I learnt by watching her use it. We found new effects to use such as fades, to make our film less jumpy, also when part of our film was too dark we made it brighter.

We also used Garage Band. This was useful as we could cut some of the songs as we didn't need the whole track. It took us a while to find out how to use the programme but once we worked it out, we found it very effective.

Looking back at our preliminary task, I feel that we have improved. Our final product could have been planned a little better, as we did have problems. Our story board was good, as we made it on time and knew what we were going to do. Although the planning of our preliminary made us too complacent for our main task. We knew all the shots and details we needed, but we didn't put them on paper, which was a mistake. From this we realised that we could have improved so much more in a few months since our preliminary, but I think that the pressure from our problems before filming made the practical harder to do.

Over all, taking the audience's reaction and the problems we faced into consideration, we fulfilled our task in thrilling the audience very well.

Deanna's evaluation

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions or real media products ?

Our thriller includes generic conventions to show the genre of the thriller in specific scenes. This is shown in the ending of the film where you see the lad laying on the floor with injuries in the woods, we have used slow panning so that the viewer can see the boy and begin to imagine how he became injured. The film also shows many cuts, we had to include fades from one shot to the other this is because of the change of the lighting from when we were filming and also when a different person is speaking. We used point of view and over the shoulder shots this was when people where talking this is so that the audience can feel like there are there and are watching what everyone is doing.
Our thriller develops these conventions because it shows that because we decided to film the thriller in the evening we wanted to make it more scary, however this also makes the film seem more like a horror because of the time of the day. We filmed over two days in which on the first filming it was darker so the film generally came out really dark and on the second day of filming we decided that we would start to film the film earlier and then use different transactions to make the film more consistent.
To get the idea of our thriller we watched many different thrillers to get ideas after watching the thrillers we then had to analyse them.
Each member of the group had to create a story board we organically decided we wanted to use the carver barracks as our location but it became very difficult to get permission so we ended up ringing the council and asking if it was possible to use the location in Newport this meant that the chosen story line which was my idea had to be changed but only the location and a small part of the story line. We had to think about getting to the location and if it was possible for the actors to get to the location as carver barracks was hard to get to for everyone besides Nadine because she lived on site. It was then easier to use Newport as all the actors lived in Newport and we filmed after school so we would all be in Newport anyway. I came up with the idea from watching other thrillers and it gave me the idea of having someone being watched and then killed. The idea of camping also came from other thrillers.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The social groups of our thriller is white males and females and the age range is 16+. This is because the actors in the film are all 16 or above.

The gender in our film is stereotypical way as there are more men to women and in the thriller the men are more dominant to women as there appear to be the stronger sex. As the female appears to be more vulnerable to the males In the thriller.

In the beginning we made a questionnaire to ask our target audience what type of thrillers they liked and how we could use the feedback from the audience in deciding what type of thriller to do.

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

I would like to think that our film can be produced by a major Hollywood studio because its not similar to existing products as when I decided on the story line I got my ideas from many different thrillers so the film wouldn’t be the same. I would like to think that the film would be a tv movie this is because I feel that the film is would be watched more than it being on the internet.

Who would be the audience for your media product ?

Our film is aimed at people aged 16+ I think that the film is aimed at both males and females. There are not any other films that are similar to our thriller this is because the story line is very different as the ideas are taken from many different films so this would mean that our film would never be the same as any others.

How did you attract/ address your audience?
Our audience profile is aged 16+ this is because our characters are of the same age and that they are both male and female.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

When it came to the filming we had a camera but after testing it when we got home we found out that the camera didn’t work so we had to come back into school and see if we could get another camera and the only camera that was available was the HD camera, this became a problem because the camera didn’t catch the fast movement of the filming and became blurry and it wasn’t as good as standards as what we were expecting.

The problems that we had when filming is that our group didn’t get on as well as we wanted to, we had many disagreements and no matter what we done someone wasn’t happy with it. Another problem we had was with our actors, the actors that said they would be happy to help we busy on the days in which we wanted to film, we also had some problems on when we were going to do the filming and when everyone was free, it took some time and we finally got it done but we had some difficulties in the timing of the filming as we had to film on separate days and the timing of the filming on the days.

I have only briefly used the final cut because I didn’t know how to use the software so I thought that it would be easier to get someone else in the group who knew what they where doing to do the work and then I would just give my input. I have looked at the tutorials about final cut express and I have now become more knowledgeable and I will now be able to help more when editing. I now know how to create a decent quality film by using transactions and how to cut the film using different clips.

We also used garage band to create parts of the song that we wanted because we didn’t want to use the whole song. We hadn’t had any experience of the software so we found it hard to use but soon got the hang of it.

Looking back on your preliminary task, what do you feel that you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

From our preliminary task we have learnt a lot from the planning we realised we needed to do more in order to get a good result. The story board for the preliminary task was good and detailed so we knew we had to keep the standard the same in order to get on target and complete what we needed to do.

I fell more confident with the camera as I have used it the most but I fell that I could do more and learn more on the final cut express.

I think that the final product is good but we could have planned better and got a much better result. I also fell that our group could have worked better together and we might have got a better product at the end.

Preliminary video

This is our preliminary filming which we did to get use to using the equipment, it also shows us how our skills have developed over time.

12th March

Today we spent a majority of the lesson trying to find our preliminary work. We were sure we had uploaded it onto the blog. However, we could not find it anywhere. Near the end of the lesson Bima and I realised that we had uploaded and edited our preliminary project onto a different mac. We managed to find it just as the bell went so we decided to leave uploading it till next lesson.
We also exported our finished thriller opening. However, we did not have time to burn it to disk as we spent the rest of the lesson trying to find the preliminary so we decided to do it next lesson aswell.

Everyone was in today so it gave us a good chance to watch over it all as a group and discuss what we all thought of it.

8th March

On Monday Bima and I spent the morning off timeteble to finish our editing. We only had to add the music and some credits. This did not take us long as I had gone in during lunch the previous Friday while the other group were out having lunch and I added in some music roughly as well as shortening parts as our opening was still too long.
However, after we had completed it and were watching it through, we realized that our 'Pop Goes The Weasle' track was missing and could not find it on the audio time line. So we tried to add it in again but when we tried to delete the video, the audio deleted as well.
After a while we gave up and when Bima left someone from another group asked to see our thriller opening. When I showed them I realized that some of the footage - of Ben dead - at the end had also gone.
I tried again to add it in but gave up near the end of lunch so that one of the other groups could add the final touches to theirs.

I came on to the blog, after missing a few days at school, to find out what the rest of the group have been up to and how our work has been progressing - had they sorted out the problem of not being able to movie audio sepratly? Had they completed it yet?
Bima has completed the project, so when I go in tomorrow (12th) we will be probably carrying on with the evaluation. As well as burning it on to disk - if not already done.

9th March 2010

Today in lesson I was the only one here, we found that yesterday as me and Nadine came in on our free time that part of our film had been lost, but not a lot. Today i fixed the problem and finished our product.
The problem was that part of our audio had been deleted and also the end images being shown had disappeared. To fix this I went onto our other saved product, which we fortunately had, and copy and pasted our needed images onto our final product. I also added in the audio needed which wasn't too hard.

4th March 2010

Today is our editing day where we are off timetable and spend the whole day on editing our thriller beginning.

Deanna and Bima also went and filmed the snapping of the stick and a scream that we have to dub in after the actual filming. We also filmed us humming the tune 'pop goes the weasel', which we need to add in afterwards.
For the editing Bima and Nadine agreed that Nadine should do the edting physically while Bima sits with her and gives input on what should be done. Nadine did the physical editing as she had understood the technology more and had watched - and understood - the 'Final Cut Express Tutorial' videos. However, everyone did give MUCH creative input and ideas as how to solve some of the problems we faced while editing.
After 6 hours of editing, we still needed more time, so we stayed after school for another hour. Hopefully we can edit a bit more another day, we just have to add in music and make sure the final outcome is perfect.

All-in-all, I thought we had a very productive day of editing.

3rd March 2010

Today afterschool myself and Nadine went to our filming location and filmed some more shots, this was because we needed to re-film the part where I am walking around alone looking for the other actors and also when we use the camera as a point of view shot running around. We added in the idea that adding a dark figure around the woods (myself in a hoodie) while Nadine was running around filming, giving the audience more of a feel what it was like to be in the woods, and gives them more of a scare.
We had to re-film these parts as when we did them before, it turned out it was too dark and the quality had gone down, but now we've done this it looks better.
We also thought about continuity so I wore the same clothes as before and we brought back up two chairs that we needed, but we didn't need the tents.

Health and Safety

This is the main Risk Assesment Sheet, which Bima and I did togeather on site. We went through - one-by-one, discussing which hazards were or were not there. We also decided what the likelyhood of each danger occuring and the priority of them.
We both discussed what actions we would take in order to prevent and/or reduce these dangers.
We also considered what actions to take upon occurance of these accidents.

Our main ideas were to brief the cast and crew on the dangers, keep an eye out for symptoms/opportunities for these dangers to take place. I am also medically trained to 3* level (Army Cadets/Red cross).

We both agreed that it was getting to cold and that the rest of the work would be better done inside. Bima and I discussed what each of us would do after the meeting and I was assigned the health and safety sheets as I knew what must be done in more detail.

2nd March 2010

In todays lesson Nadine carried on editing the film,

we also went through the evaluation, going through it in detail on how to write it and when would be the time to do it.

Changes to the Storyboard

Our main reason for changing was because our lack of actors and the time we had left.
We firstly had 2 girls and 6 boys, but some of them couldn't do the days we asked for and in the end we had little time to film and had to use what we had, meaning 2 boys and 1 girl.
We were going to film in Carver Barracks, but we didn't get the permission so we had to film in Newport, which did end up quite good as it was easier to travel to and the woods came in handy.
One problem we had was the camp fire, firstly it would have been a problem for health and safety but also with the bad weather we had, we were not able to start one. So we put in the script about Ben going to get some wood, but he disappears. This also solved the problem that we had, because Ben couldn't be there for the main filming day.

Filming Day 24th February 2010

Today after school Me and Nadine filmed the whole of our thriller beginning. We had a few problems as we had lost three actors, but when Nadine arrived at my house we sorted out what we were going to do and sorted our problems. We had decided to use Matt and Max and myself as actors and as we had already filmed Ben on Monday dead, we decided to still use this footage and change the script asking where Ben had gone, meaning that they find him later on solving their question.
Nadine filmed us acting and was good at directing us what to do, as the script had changed a bit we found it hard to think of new things to say, but we managed and I think the outcome was good, considering the pressure we were under.
We all set up the tents and chairs where we had assigned them when we did our risk assessment and showed the boys where we wanted them to be. Filming started at 5pm giving us an hour to film as the light went away quite quickly. We just about managed to film all the shots in time, but we found out that we can re-film myself walking around in the woods looking around as we didn't have enough light and the camera quality had gone down. We have also decided to re-film the bit where were running around with camera as a point of view shot as when we did it on the filming day it wasn't as good.

1st March

I spent the lesson cutting the filming we had done into the different scenes. I did this to make it easier and quicker to put everything together. We will be able to flick through to which scene we need and then which shot/angle we want to use.

23rd February

In today's lesson we tried to transfer the filming that we done last night on tho the computer so that we could edit it and place it on the blog. This started of hard for us because we where unable to transfer because it was saved onto a SD card and we didn't have the correct equipment to transfer it onto the computer. Nadine and Bima went down to tech to get it transferred so that we would be able to upload it and then either edit or transfer it onto the blog.

22nd February

Today after school we went to Bimas to begin doing our filming. Nadine and Bima practised making the cuts and bruises. At 5pm Nadine and Bima went and got Ben to do the makeup for him. At 5:30pm Deanna arrived at Bima's house and we headed up to the location for filming and made our dead guy scene.

16th February 2010

Today we went to the area where we have decided to film and did the risk assessment there. We worked out where everything was going to be, for example the campfire and tents. We discussed the extra props we would use - camp chairs. We did a test run through what we woulf film and where, for the takes of the running. We also worked out that this part would be best done between 5:30pm and 6:00pm due to lighting conditions.
We then came home to re-watch what we filmed briefly, and found out that the camera would not replay our shots, therefore we will need to get another camera. But we found that it would record and replay with the same camera, but by using a different tape. We would still like to test this as if it goes wrong it is a waste of time and filming.

9th February 2010

In today's lesson we called the council to find out if we would be able to film in the wreck in Newport. We found out that it was public land so if we wanted to we would be able to use it. we then went to see if there was a certain location that we could use in the wreck. After walking down we realised that there wasn't anywhere directly in the wreck so we went for a short walk into the fields and we found the a location that we would be able to use. we are still waiting to hear if we can use carver barracks this is because we still feel that it is a better location to do the filming as we have already been there to have a look and have found the perfect spot.

2nd February 2010

In today's lesson me and Bima discussed the cast for the film. We also discussed to consider changing the location for filming because the current location is working out very difficult either to get there or to film because we currently do not have permission.

The possible actors that we have chosen are:

Brunette girl - Charlotte Saville
Blonde girl - Amy Livings, Grace Menhenick, Eleanor ...

Other possible people:
Miriam smith
Tasha Cox

Guy 1 -
Guy 2 - Paris Shoker
Guy 3 - Samuel Willmot
Guy 4 - .....?
Guy 5 - Tom Read
Guy 6 - Jack skelham

In the end the people that we used where:

Matt Groom
Max gibbons
Ben ..
and Bima acted herself .

Sound

we spent a number of time listening to different sounds to see which would be best for our film to give the most dramatic sounds. We have chosen to use ambient sounds all the way through the clip.

Already on the computer was a song called 'I know you are but what am I', the title didn't sound ver promising but we were bored so we listened to it any way. It was very good. We thought it might be good for the end of the clip, when the body is found, so we listened to it a couple of times to find what parts we wanted. I thought that 1:16 and onward ed sounded good for when the camera first approaches the body as it is very intense and builds to a sadness. Then I thought that 2:32 sounded good for when the image fades out and the title appears as it sounds inpiering - like someone is becoming determined to do something. It gives the audience the sense that more is to come.
We all also really liked a song we found on the website called 'Interloper', we will look further into what parts of this song to use either next lesson or next time we have a meeting.

Most of the music that we have chosen is from a website called www.incompeteach.com which all the music is non copyrighted so we are able to use it.

Audtions

We held auditions for the casting of the film, this didn't turn out like we expected it to the room we were expecting to use was being used for something else so we had a small problem if people were supposed to turn up where would they go. After waiting outside of the room to inform anyone that did come that there wasn't a location to hold the casting but we will let them know if we need them and we will have to just test them when we go to do some filming.

we realised that we could have been more organised in planning the casting as we did leave it very late to hold auditions as we want to get filming next week. we have got in contact with some people who are willing to be in the film that do have experience in acting and we will see how they get on when it comes to the filming.

29th January 2010

In today's lesson we were choosing the different types of music for the film. We have been using a website called www.incompeteach.com this is where we can get music that is not copyrighted. we also held auditions for the cast of the film at lunch time. 

Final letter

Dear Capt S.J.Hayakwan,

My name is Nadine Board and I am an A level student at Newport Free Grammar School Sixth Form. I am writing to ask permission for my Media Studies group to film a 2 minute opening thriller sequence for our coursework on MOD property.
The area we are interested in using is located on the air field, and would be the grass and wooded areas behind the cadet hut. We have a need to conduct the filming within the next 3 weeks and it would take a couple of days. Most of the filming will take place after dark but setup will be during daylight hours. Our group will consist of up to 13 people, including myself and we would require vehicle access to move our equipment to the location.
Our equipment and props will consist of tents, camera and lighting, safety equipment and specialised props.
The script requires for a small camp fire, if possible we would like to make one on the sight, but I can assure you all suitable safety precautions will be taken and all damage will be repaired. If we have your permission to go ahead with this, I have a few release forms that necessary for us to fill out prior to filming, and I can deliver them to you for signing at your convenience before the shoot. I will also need to do a risk assessment which will need to be read and signed.
If you wish, we can send you a copy of our film sequence once it has been edited.
I look forward to hearing from you and thank you for your time and consideration in this matter.

Yours sincerely


N.L.V.Board

Letter for permission

I started writing a letter to Capt Hayakawn during one of our Media lessons and carried on to finish it during lunch. This is the rough draft:

Dear Capt S.J.Hayakwan

I am writing to ask permission to film a 2 minute opening thriller sequence for my media coursework on MOD property. The area I would like to film on is behind the air cadet building (marked on the satellite picture at the bottom).

The cast and crew will come to a maximum of 13 people, including myself. We will also like to have a car to carry our equipment. We would like access through the gate and permission to film on the small patch of grass as well as in the fringe of the woods. We will be using props, such as; tents, water filled beer bottles, fake cigarettes and snacks. Our equipment will consist of a camera (with tripod|) and lights. If possible - permission to make a small fire would be very helpful. I have a few release forms that necessary for us to fill out prior to filming, and I can ask Cpl Board - or myself - to deliver them to you for signing at your convenience before the shoot. I will also need to do a risk assessment which will need to be read and signed.

We need to do the filming in the next 3 weeks and are flexible with hours after school as well as weekends. We need to start setting up for filming before dark but film after dark. We would need to do the filming over a couple of days, allowing us to do sound and lighting checks.

If you wish, we can send you a copy of our film sequence once it has been edited.

Yours sincerely

N.L.V.Board

I need to give a copy to another one of the capt at the barracks.

28th January 2010

During this lesson we uploaded the second part of our storyboard film, with Nadine's commentary on it.  We also tried to work out credit plans, by watching thriller credit sequences. Nadine wrote up one of the letters asking for permission to two different Captains. she still needs to write another letter we have left nadine to write the letters because both me and Bima have said that writing is one of our weaknesses after nadine wrote one of them on the blog. we then searched and listen to some samples of music that where not copyrighted this is so that if we wanted to use them in the film we would be able to. 

Audtions

I have made and printed an advert that advertises auditions for our thriller. After I have made sure that both Bima and Deanna are happy with the layout and information on it I will put a copy in each yr 11, 12 and 13 register and then stick a copy in the drama department and on the Media room door.
My advert includes what the film is for, who we need and when the auditions are.

For the audtions I think that we should set up a camera on a tripod that gives an over the shoulder shot of a cleared out space that they will be audtioning in.
We will need to come up with a script for them to do and we need to work out if we will have people audtion in groups or singley.

Credit plans

In the credits which will either be at the beginning or the end of the film we need to make sure that we include:
- Our own names
- The actors names
- The title

During the lesson we watched the opening credits of Se7en and Panic room to see the different types of credits are. 

The types of credits in Se7en are white on dark backgrounds. An example of this is one of the names is on the side pages of a book. 

In the panic room the credits are over buildings and they are bold and also white. 

Storyboard

This is our story board with out the commentary. :)

26th January 2010

In todays lesson we realised that we had lost our filiming of the story board, so we knew we had to do it again and we knew that we couldnt waste time doing it as there was so much more we could have done in the time if we were all more carefull and remembered to keep the film.

After we re-filmed our story board we uploaded it to final cut experess then we transferd it onto the blog.

we then began to make a list about the different types of props that we will need for the film to make it look good.

Props and Continuity plan

Whilst filming we must take into consideration that we may have continuity problems. For example, if we filmed on two different days then things might change, like makeup, hair, costume, the weather or the amount of light created. To make sure this isn't a problem for us we must plan in a very detailed way. If the weather suddenly changes and we have to stop filming, we should take pictures of important details on the location and on people. Therefore the flow of filming would be better and less problems would be created.
Hopefully we would like to film on just one night, saving time and traveling problems that may be caused, but this could be unlikely as it depends on what the night is like. If this is to happen we should maybe place things like tape on the ground to show where things go like the tents and hexi burner.
If we had to re-film a shot by any chance, then all the details must be the same, so if we took a foot shot and it went wrong, next time we film this, the shoe must be the same. There are a lot of examples like this which will take a lot of time to sort out, taking photos of everything and placing everything and everyone in the right places.

Some of the props that we need are:
Three tents
Hexi burner
Blankets / sleeping bags x6
Water buckets
Logs or small wooden bench for the actors to sit on
Drinks bottles
Fake cigarettes

Risk Assessment for Location

doo it

25th January 2010

During this lesson I blogged about 'Props and continuity plans' explaining all the problems we may have while filming and how to fix them, while Deanna added more onto the 'Casting and Character codes' blog. As she will be mostly in charge of this area, she knows what to do and what people should look like. Nadine was not in this lesson so we couldnt talk about 'Risk assessment for location' also we have to find the tape that we used to film our storyboard as we need to upload it onto our blog.

At the end of the lesson me and Bima went and complete the questionnaire by asking people and finding out the results.

Sound and Light plan

We have briefly spoken about sound and lighting but we still have to actually do tests, to see what works whilst filming.
We got the idea of getting a normal light and covering it with a thin dark scarf so that we can still see what we're filming, as we're filming in the dark. We got this idea from one of our teachers.
For the fire light we will be lighting a real campfire and then testing to see if it works on a camera. I if it doesn't give a strong enough glow, we will try using a torch with a red scarf/lense.
This will take us a while to work out thr right level of lighting that enables us to film, whilst still giving the sense of pure darkness with natural light. We will use trial and error, untill it's perfect.
The sound we use is mainly ambient and dialogue. We may have to pre-record sounds and put them on the film while editing, as cars could drive past our filming area and may ruin the effect.
Our background music will come from a website that has different types of un-copywrited music.
http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free
The main tune that people are focussed on though, is the humming of 'Pop goes the weasel' from the mystery killer.

Casting and character codes

We have briefly discussed what kind of characters we want of the two girls and one of the lads. We also talked about how we were going to cast.
We wanted one of the girls to be very girly and daft. We one of the boys - the boy who is killed - to take advantage of this and mock her. The other girl, we discussed to be more outdoorsy. We wanted the daft girl to be very well dressed and have layered on make-up and the other to wear nice but more comfortable than fashionable clothing with light make-up.
Deanna put her status on 'Facebook.com' asking if anyone wanted to play a part in our short thriller clip.
We will also be asking drama students from our school and some of our mates if they want to be in it.
To choose who we will cast for the parts in our thriller opening we will be getting the people who want to be in it to audition for their parts. We will also be looking for the basic outline look that we have chosen for the characters. We can be less strict with this as we can change what they look like to a certain degree with make-up.

The boys that we will cast will wear casual clothing this is because we want to audience to feel like they are just ordinary people on a camping trip. The boys will wear either trackies or jeans and a t-shirt and maybe even a hoody. we will make the boys wear a small amount of makeup just to make their complexion better and either to make their eyes stand out.

Storyboard

First of all we made a plot summary of 3 ideas for a thriller opening.
We picked plot 3 and made a more detailed version. During this process we added things in and changed some of the details.
This plot helped us to write out our storyboard. Our teacher gave us all storyboard templates and we began filling it out that lesson.
When we had the meeting at Nadine's house Bima and Nadine completed the storyboard, as well as thinking of and adding a film title.
Last lesson, we stuck storyboard on a wall, and filmed it using the timings we had given each take. After that we recorded it again, but this time, explaining - in detail - what happens in each take.
we later forgot to keep the tape of the filming so we then had to re-do it

Friday 22nd January

During the lesson we finished the self assessment which included time and resource management, research, story boarding and sound and lighting.

Wednesday 20th January

After school on Wednesday me, Nadine and Deanna came to my house to try and finish off some work our teacher had set us. This was to do our self assessments, which included: Time and resource management, Research, Story boarding, Sound and light plan and Casting and character codes.
During this session we blogged about time and resource management and research, but we still have to finish the other three points.

We found it hard to get motivated with all of the distractions around us so trying to complete the task and to keep on target was working out to be harder than we thought Eventually we completed the work.
This was a short notice planned meeting as we only decided to do it Tuesday night, I knew Nadine and Deanna could both come over but there could have been a few travel problems with Deanna, so I was unsure whether she could come or not, in the end she did. We had about three hours to do this work and during that time we got a decent amount of work done, but it could have been done better with quantity. We need to make up another meeting and actually work together to catch up on work.

Time and resource management

In the past our group were really disorganised and we didn’t have any formal meetings outside of lesson time. Sometimes we would carry on from a lesson into lunch, but it was only ever two of us. One of us would then relay what had been done during that lunch period, or leave them to find out via the blogs.
However, we have gotten better at both time management and communication. I think that communication was the source of our problems. We have had a formal meeting that had been planned in advance and included all three of us. We have used these meetings to complete work that is too big to be done in one of our lessons but we feel should be done by all of us together. For each meeting we have discussed between us the days that we are free so that we can find a time and day that we can all do. We also work between us which location is best to work at. This is worked out using a number of factors; what resources do we need and where do we get them, who can travel, where would have less distractions, where has best working conditions. Our first meeting was held at Nadine’s house as it is next to the air field and we had to find a location on the field to use. Our second meeting was held at Bima’s house as it is easy to get from school to it – just a short walk down the road – and Bima was unable to get anywhere due to her mother being busy.
We have each got timetables for when we begin filming. This will give us the ability to plan in advance and always know when we are due on set – as well as knowing who is or is not coming that day.
A majority of the lunchtime sessions were Nadine and Bima as Deanna was often not in lesson. However, Nadine and Deanna met a couple of times in study periods and one lunch time to watch a thriller opening and blog our analysis. We watched the whole film so that we could see how the beginning clip affected the rest of the film. We also blogged about some of the editing terminology we were taught in lessons.
At both sessions we had a rough target of what work we wanted to have completed by the end of it. On our first meeting we managed to meet our target (Storyboarding, location planning and starting the make-up/costume design planning). Our second meeting (which is now) we have not managed to get to our target even though it is nearing the end, however, Nadine and Bima will be carrying on the work when Deanna has left.
The resources we have used have been very accessible. We have been given access to the Macs in our media classroom during most of school hours as long as we get the permission of the teacher that is teaching in there at the time.
We can get onto ‘blogger.com’ on the computers at school and at our homes so we can blog during free time and study periods.
Nadine also uses her brother as a resource for useful paper work, which makes organising our coursework easier. Joseph has given us templates for things like costume/make-up design, storyboards, timetables, safety checks etc.

Research

Our main source of research was watching other opening clips of thrillers and blogging our analysis of them. This research was useful as it gave us ideas for plots.
Initially we had made a questionnaire, the answers of which would help us decide which of our thriller openings would be the most popular with the public. However due to our lack of time management at the beginning of our project - we did not have the time to carry out our questionnaire.
To choose the plot we simply looked at the difficulties that each plot would cause and picked the easiest/safest option. We then edited this plot so it was up to standard.
One of the features that we added in was the song 'Pop goes the weasel' which we got the idea from one of the other groups in our class. They are using 'Three blind mice' which reminded us that using children’s nursery rhymes are often related to tense/scary moment to many people.
We also looked at the previous year 12's thriller beginnings; this gave us ideas on the quality of the filming and editing. It also made us think about common mistakes made by beginners.

19th January 2010

During this lesson we worked out the timing for each scene as we had to do this in our plans, the overall time added up to 88 seconds and we were told that our films should be the maximum of 120 seconds long. We will probably make our film beginning longer than 88 seconds, as the practical’s never work exactly as planned. We then filmed our storyboard; once with all the correct times and secondly with Nadine commentating the details of each scene. We then uploaded these videos onto the Mac at school, we will have to edit this slightly in next lesson.

Storyboard, costume design and location

On Friday 15th January we all went to my house to catch up with some of the media work.
As soon as we got there Bima and I began to do the storyboard. We took turns drawing the pictures, writing the script and thinking about the camera movement and clip transition. We manage to finish the storyboard, as well as come up with the title to our film – ‘The weasel’. At first we just thought of names that resembled where they were and what they were doing in our clip but then I thought about the actual killer. Before he kills he hums ‘pop goes the weasel’ but he stops on “pop” and that is when he takes his victim – he never says “goes the weasel”. I thought that a good name for him could be the weasel and Bima agreed.

While we were doing this, Deanna was coming up with a make-up design idea for the two girls.
When we were all finished we headed out to the air field – taking Deanna’s camera so that we can look at our options later on. We went around a couple of the locations that I have camped or used as a harbour with cadets. However, none of them seemed right and most of them had very uneven grass. We found one area that seemed alright but it was very close to the barracks and had a barbed wire between the field they would camp on and the woods. I tried to take some pictures of all the locations we went to but it was too dark so no picture showed up. We still took pictures at each location but just so that the flash would give us a bit more sight. We agreed that we would use that as a last option but went to the air cadet hut in hope that they may have something better. When we got there we found the perfect location. The grass was very smooth (maybe a little too smooth though) and it was in a corner with tree on two sides. I took a couple of pictures and then we headed back.
I have done another design idea for the two girls’ make-up and we have another lesson today so we can come up with more design ideas for everyone’s clothes and the make-up for the carcass at the end.
I need to contact the MOD about using their land then do the safety check and do the auditions for actors/actresses before we can start filming.

After school meeting

After school on Friday we all met up at Nadine's house which is in Carver Barracks, and the airfield is where we are planning to use as our location the to catch up on some work and look at where our film beginning could be set.
Me and Nadine started off by completing our storyboard, by drawing it out and writing in details, such a script, camera movement, sound and lighting. We still have to work out how long each cut will take. While we did this Deanna started drawing out what makeup the two girls would be wearing, and how this displays they're type of character, as she is in charge of costume and makeup, she still has to finish this. However me and Nadine will help her out in lessons to come and future meetings.
We also had a discussion about what type of clothing the guys and girls will be wearing.
When it got dark during the evening we went out onto the airfields in the Barracks trying to find a place where we could film. It took us a while to find our spot, Deanna took photos of various places, but as it was too dark we may have to do this again in the light. Finally we found our perfect setting and we all felt that this area had the right giving effect and that when we film and edit our final piece, the feeling of a thriller will be shown. (Standing there made us scared)
This is all we could do that night as we only had three hours, but next time will be more productive and we shall hopefully be right on schedule for filming and editing.

14th January 2010

During this lesson, we worked out our final plot and blogged about it. This is so that it will be easier during the making of our story board, we added in the idea using 'pop goes the weasel', we got this idea from the other group doing 'three blind mice'. Our teacher also showed us a slide on 'guidance on evaluation'.
We then started drawing our storyboard.

Final Plot

6 lads and 2 girls are gathered round a hexi burner in a field with tents set up behind them in a circle formation facing inward. It is late into the night. It is very relaxed, they're just laughing, drinking and smoking - acting like normal teenagers.
There is a point of view shot coming from the woods, just behind the tents, it moves to the right slightly and it goes back to the group of friends, we then hear a snapping noise and the camera shows the groups reaction, looks into the woods, but sees nothing. One of the girls asks "oh my god! What was that?" and clings to one of the boys, who teases her "don't worry babe, it's probably just a bear coming to get you. It's alright, I’ll protect you".
They then see a flash of light coming from the road direction. "Shit, the guards!", "Fuck, run". In a hurry they put out the hexi burner and run into the woods. One of the girls runs next to one of the guys and says "I'm scared; what if that bear gets us".
Point of view shot. They hear a male humming 'pop goes the weasel' girl tells him to stop it because its scaring her. When the word "pop" is hummed, the boy next to her gasps, she whispers his name in a shaky voice, but there is no reply, by this time everyone’s walked back out to the campsite. They have been talking about the fact that is past twelve so the guards have finished the patrols - it couldn't have been them. The girl stumbles out screaming that the boy has gone.
Cuts to the carcass of the body, which is all scratched up. Screen goes black. "Oh shit!" Title comes up.

13th January 2010

During this lesson our teacher came up to our group so we can discuss the problems that we had during the week. We discussed all of our separate problems and sorted them out. After this our group has recovered and have realized that our AS marks are too important to have a disagreements.
We then went to print off an important sheet that we have to follow so that our blogs are up to date; also we printed off our questionnaires and started asking people the questions. After this we began to discuss and review the details we will have to go through on Friday evening. Factors like choosing the plot, costume and make-up designs, story board, risk assessment and emailing the MOD film man.
We had already discussed that Deanna was in charge of make-up design as she is very good with it and also very creative when doing make-up.


In the next lesson we were told that we HAD to pick a plot. As we did had not finished our questionnaire - which was how we were going to decide which plot to use. Instead we just made do with illumination. We could not do plot 2 as it is harder to get the OC's house and because it is a big safety hazard do have a girl carrying a knife. We took out plot 1 because it would be hard to get a clip of the moon. This left us with plot 3.
Deanna then went through each piece of paperwork that we have to fill out before the filming - including clothes and make-up design sheets, scriptbreakdown sheets and safety sheets - and working out how many copies of each sheet we need to do.

Roles and tasks

Producer
The industry has regarded the role of the producer as only second to the director. Production is everything besides the technical work that needs to be done in order to transform an idea into a finished piece of work.
You will be planning, monitoring and efficiently using the financial and other resources to achieve the finished product.

Director
Has overall responsibility for entire crew. They work with the producer on the filimic treatment, appointing personnel, secuiring funding and overseeing the work of the research team/scriptwriters.

Camera
The camera translates the director's instructions using their knowledge of visual composition and film language to gain the best effect for a shot.
The camera operator will also be responsible for lighting.

Sound
The sound recordist has responsibility for all sound recording - positioning microphones etc.

Video Editor
Video editors put into practice instructions for editing agreed with the director.

Costume and Makeup
has to come up with designs for the actors and they have to be done on paper

Phone call

On the 12th January 2010 I got a phone call from Bima Loxley asking when we were to meet up on Wednesday and i reminded her that we were not going to meet then as we wanted the whold group and it would only be for an hour which is not enough time.
I told her that Friday 15th is the official meeting at my house and that I would be doing the work no matter who was or was not there as we are so far behind.
I managed to talk it through with her. She then asked her mother if she could come home with me and get piked up at seven. Deanna had already informed me on the night i arranged the meeting that she would be getting on my bus. So the meeting is from 4 - 7pm (officialy).
However - not even five minutes later - I go a phone call from Deanna informing me that she had spent a lot of her time in lessons and some extra time when she got home writting blogs and some had gone.
I called Bima and asked if she had deleted Deanna's blogs. She denied it at first until i told her that Deanna was sure it was her and that there was no other possible way that they could have gone and she admitted to deleting a couple. I told her that there was no excuse for it and that it was very wrong. She then told me that Deanna had practically copied hers as it was all about the same thing. I explianed that the examiners would notice any copying and would not mark Deanna's as it was done after hers - if she had really done that.
I told her it could not be done again and if she has any problems with other people's blogs then she have words with the blogger or come talk to me so that i can sort it out. Deanna called me back and we spoke about what to do about Bima deleting her work. I have suggested writting as much as she can remember again and possibly informing Miss Menzies. My brother then suggested that we blog about it so that we a least know that Deanna had put in the effort. Deanna told me that Bima had told her that we needed to cool it as it was only a couple of blogs and she had caught up with her so she had plenty of marks from that any way.

It wasnt just about the blog it was the fact that i (Deanna) had spent my time making the blog and the fact was that the blog wasnt the same as bima blog, the fact was that the blog was actully rather different my blog encluded how Bima and Nadine had started the questionnaire when i was away and when i came back they discussed it with me and Nadine even said that it needed to be changed. The blog was then changed in the lesson with my help and input. I then blogged about the plot that i has started in the lesson and had to finish in todays Mr Normans lesson, this is when i wrote the blog about what i have done in the lesson so that there would be proof that i did do work in the lesson even tho i did do some other blogs about the sheets that i was given.

This is another problem that - as a group - we will have to sort out on Friday.
We cannot have group members deleting other partners work - no matter what the blog is about. It is unfair amd cruel as Deanna had spent a lot of time on that work and Bima and I were not able to attend some of the lessons that Deanna had blogged about.

Editing

Direct sound - Live sound- freshness, spontaneity and authentic atmosphere

studio sound - Sound that is recorded in the studio - improve the sound quality - get rid of any unwanted background noises e.g. ambient sounds

selective sounds - Removal of some sounds, retention of other to make significant sounds more recognizable this may be for dramatic effect, to create atmosphere, meaning and emotional nuance. this may be used to make people more aware.

sound perspective - The impression of distance in sound

sound bridge - Adding to continuity through sound

dubbed dialogue - post-recording, voice track in a studio

parallel sound - sound caused by some event on screen

sound effects - any sound from any source other than sychronised dialogue, narration or music .

music - helps to establish a sense of the pace of the accompanying scene. the rythm of music, the bacground music, the music wich accompanies a film and thge foreground music.

i think that if we look at the editing before we film then we can think about the types of music to go best and what different types os sound effects would be most suitable.

Production meetings

We have discussed where we can hold the filming, this is where it is easily accessible and somewhere we can easily film

Possible locations are

- Newport near the grave yard
- Carver barracks
- Little wood ( a woods near my house)

these are the possible locations that we have discussed but the main place that we thought that was going to be the most ideal and that is the barracks this is because it is a larger area where we would have more room to fill. This was discussed in the previous lesson with both Nadine and Bima present.

we have been more in contact with each other and we have been calling each other at night to discuss when we are all free to meet up and talk about the plans more and what we are going to do.

after discussing who is free when we have soon realised that the only day we are all free is on w Wednesday last period this is when we are supposed to be doing sport but we thought that we should spend our time wisely and use it as time to talk about what we are going to do.

i am going to be meeting up with Nadine on Friday and on wednesday morning to go over some of the things we need to do, and then we will inform Bima about what we have done and what we are planning to do and to see if she agrees.

Research and planning

General background info on film opening sequences

- What do we have to do in the first 5 minutes of a film (you could create a mind map)
- Dos and don'ts of a good film opening - techniques we expect and which ones we dont (e.g. establishing shots, a particular kind of music, characters, narrative, set up, action, opening credits)

specific info on thriller genre
- Clear definition of thriller genre
- Discuss cross - overs with other genres (sub -genres)
- Formulate a list of thriller films

Sheet

During the lesson i was handed sheets informing us on what we need to complete.

by Friday night (8.01.10) we needed to have uploaded:

Details of "production meeting" which is at least 3 per group to discuss ideas, brainstorm possible locations

detailed analysis of films from the thriller genre in which we need to identify and show through understanding of conventions (a minimum of 2 each)

posts which show understanding of the following thriller films (by including links to other websites, analysing clips from films etc.)

1) establishing of scene
2) narrative structure
3) use of titles
4) establishing of character codes

other important points :
at this stage i am looking for your groups blogs to include atleast 20 blogs ( 5 each plus some combined group posts )

Remember, R&P (research and planning) is worth 25% of your final mark.That can make the difference of 2 whole grades. if you don't work now, you cannot get as high a grade as you should