Editing Progress

This is our first rough cut just to show the progress of editing and filming that we have used within out film.

Font Research

Last night I used survey monkey to upload and create a new survey asking the readers what they think of our name of the film and production company, and what they think of the fonts the words are represented in and the logo we created for our company. The results wil shortly be uploaded and analysed so we can apply our audience and convention research to our film.

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world's leading questionnaire tool.

Progress report

Over the last few lessons we have been working hard on finalcut express to put together our different shots and clips we have obtained by filming in the local town.

We have had to cut and render out clips to make them fit together, also we have found there were some unwanted sounds within our shots, so what we did was take the unwanted sound out, and hen places other sound in its place.

We have also been playing around and adding effects to our opening, these have been between shots to try to make transitions between shots flow easier for the professional look.
We have been doing our credits, and when we have been using external sources for our fonts, for example we used as site called www.dafont.com which gives you  wide range of cool fonts.  In the end we decieded  to use the typewriter style for our credits as we felt it fit in with the idea of cyber stalking and it also represents authenticity.

We have encountered a few issues when doing these things, as it took us a while to download and to get used to cutting, editing and then rendering our work.

We will shortly upload what we have so far.

Change in Productions

Due to certain circumstances we were unable to film in Cambridge on the day that we planned, and as we wanted to film last Wednesday we had to decide of another place which would be suitable to film for our thriller. After a long time of thinking Luke and I thought of Bishops Stortford, there were two main areas which were suitable for our filming; although we did have to change some plans. Instead of having our aerial view slowly zooming into the characters face we had to change it to the characters face hidded inside a telephone box, from a high angle view slowly zooming into the telephone box. I think that this change worked well as it was a busy street with access to cars the location seems more busy and popular, also by using the telephone box it links to our idea of stalker/paedophilia and cyber interactions. I also think it is good that we still chose to hide the face of the character, by doing this the audience is still unsure of how the character looks, leaving their individual imaginations to create this individual character, and make the Audience to want to more know about the film.

The other part of the filming that we shot was a narrow mid shot of the character walking down a slim alleyway, by doing this we intended to edit the shots together by a colourful flash, seeming that the character is travelling fast.

I am glad that our filming has been changed, and by this I believe that our film will now look more professional, and make more sense to what the rest of the film will unwind.

Optical Productions

I was looking online for some creative text stlyes and ways that we can write the naem of our company to be placed next to our logo, these are some good ones I found:

Possible Film Names

1) Authority (favourite choice)
2) Judgement
3) Tyrant

Optical Productions

For our company name, of "Optical Productions" we created an imaginative logo made for our company. As the name is Optical we decided to use a copy right free image off of the internet, and edit the effects so that the 2 images show the optical illusion clearly. We edited the photo using Adobe Photoshop to give an antique effect and a strong tint of blood red, creating a eery mood, suiting our theme of our thriller.

Optical Productions

Locations - Cambridge

We will be filming our cambridge scene in the woodland park alley way between the grafton centre and lion yard, seen the photo above. We think that this place would be suitable as it is a busy section of cambridge, allowing a large amount of people to walk through the scene giving the desired effect that we want to achieve. We will also take a few shots in an alley way with concrete/dark lighting to portray a more mysterious scene.

Name Fonts

This is an examle of the different styles of font we can show our film title in, we will put these into a survey to collect some research on which style would best suit our film.

Names

Last lesson I drew up a mind map of possible names which we could use for our film, we trying to link names to the theme we have decided to use, just so the feel of the film is kept the same, by that i mean the credit style, name and the way we film it all give out the same message.
By planning our credits and styling them so intricatley it follows our aim to assure that every micro detail portrays the same message to the audience, so from micro to macro details giving tyhe audience the same understanding from this film.
If we manage to make sure that the audience all have the same understanding of the film we manage to reach our aim and give the audience satisfaction, by designing an enjoyable film.

Last lesson

Last lesson we experimented with fonts and title names for our production company and also our film name, we already have a company name, but we have yet to find title name.
We used livetype, which is a software which lets you play around with different fonts, to try and work out what sort of look we want for our credits.

We will upload possible credit styles soon.

Casting

We are going to have to cast 1 person, this person would be the main character, this is our suspected paedophile.
We are looking for a male, no preferences on what ethnic group they are. We want a male as this is a stereotype we wish to retain as we want to keep the convention of the male being the aggressor and a antagonist.

We will at a later date ask people if they want to do it, take pictures of them and then evaluate them, to see if they are what we are looking for.

Credits :)

There are many credits we need to include in our opening, they are the following;

Companies x2
Film title
Producer
Directors
Actors
Who it's staring
Director of photography
Companies involved
music
editors
written by
funders

Age Certification

Suitable for 15 years and over

We have researched into age classification and we think that our project would be a 15, we think this because the elements of our film fit suitably within these groups...

Discrimination

• There wil be no use of discriminatory language within our film, the topic will not arrise and therefore there will be no problem.

Drugs

• There may be mild use of drugs within the film, there will be no influence or showing of acceptance with use of drugs, no promotions of it whatsoever, linking well to the age 15 certification.

Horror

• There will be no strong use of horror throughout our film, there may be some scenes which may cause emotional stress upon audiences.

Immitable Behaviour

• There will be no extreme use of dangerous behaviour shown within our film, and no excess dwelling, there may be mild showings of dangerous behaviour but only for a short amount of time.

Language

• There will be little use of language used within the film, within our beginning 2 minutes there will be no use os swearing, but within the film there may be mild use of language

Nudity

• There will be no immediate nudity, yet there may be images of young teens/ children in small amounts of clothing, exposing the bodies slightly.

Sex

• There will be no sex scenes or sexual references within the film.

Theme

• The films theme will be paedophile cyper stalker of children and other people, the main character may contain references to stressful subjects.

Violence

• There will be mild reference to violence, but no direct harm induced through the film. 

By considering these elementds of the 15  certificate it is clear that our film will be suitable for a 15 certificate within the BBFC's standards.

Conventions - Christmas Homework

As we are close to filming our project of our thriller film, as individuals we each have to consider every different element of conventions we want included in the project. As my individual preferences may differ from others every contributed is considered and tried to add. Our Thriller is based on a tech-Internet paedophile who is stalking children, this is the general picture which is gained from our 2 minutes.

Costume

Generally I would like the main character to be dressed sensibly and smart as the character is a man based between 25 to 35, and a smart look of a suit or jacket and trousers should portray the "normal" stereotyped working class man or woman. As the scene changes he should be wearing darker clothing as it reaches the more mysterious and suspicious part of the clip, the characters face will never be shown but his body and things around him will be evident, so I think dark layered clothing will be suitable as it suits the style we are trying to portray and will not stand out much in contrast to the other people in the shot.

 

Props

The micro details which will be added to the scene will really change the authenticity look that we can create, so it is important that the props are believable and realistic. As a prop needed within the first shot will be a phone in the characters hand with a photo of a child on it, hopefully we will be able to zoom into the phone to show a glimpse to the audience of the phone, it is a nessesity that the phone is big enough to see and believeable. Another prop which will be needed within the scenes is a computer or laptop, as a few of our shots will be of a computer screen displaying information/photos it is nessesary that we have a computer or laptop, as he is cyber stalking the interet will need to be accessed, in order to do this we will most likely have to film this part at someones house using a computer and internet available. A big part of the detailed to be explained from the plot, there is a notebook next to the character whilst he looks onto the computer and makes notes, this notebook contains photos, scriblles, text and torn out pages to look rustic and used, this has to be on show so it is crutial that we have this notebook as a prop, some pages should have blank pages as I will put some of the credits onto the notebook in an evidently different colour to add to authenticity. As we are finishing the clip with a red herring, we are showing a glimpse of a police uniform to leave the audience confused of the characters status and reason for what he is doing. In order for this to work there must be a clear shot of a hat and badge, and any other police related clothing if we can find it, this will make the scene much more realistic and confusing to the audience.

 Lighting

For our film the general mood created should be mysterious and dark, so by creating this we will film the majority of the clips in medium lighting, when we film in cambridge it should be at around 3-4pm so that as it is winter the light shall be dim but the street lights should illuminate the shots enough so that it is clear to see the content of the shot, but still fits the themes. When filming the shots inside the room will have the illumination from the computer screeens, accompanied by some small lights to light the lighting enough to see the content, when the camera focus's on the police uniform the room will be brighter so that the details can be seen clearly.

Location

We intend to film our beginning scene within the alley way linking Cambridge grafton Centre and Lion Yard, next to the H&M shop, and by doing this there are 2 clear shots available, either the shot of the woodland track leading from one to another illumated by street lights, in order for us to get the ariel view we intend to, we will either enter the resteraunt from across the road and ask permission to film from there, or stand on a bench and then zoom onto the character. The other possible option would be across the road, so the shot shows the people coming from all different directions, by doing this we can achieve the look of business from other people within Cambridge. The second main location where we will film will be at someones house, using a bedroom with the computer and characters, by doing this we can achieve the authenticity of a bedroom within a house, and when the woman calls he can leave the room and use the stairs, persuading the audience of its realisticness. We will hopefully be filming a shot by a bus stop, filming the feet of people leaving the bus, by doing this the audience can only see the feet it leaves them wondering who they are, how old they are, etc creating the mysterious suspense, a bus stop is a good place to film as you dont need permission and it is more commonly used within lots of parts of the world, they are more accessable than trains usually, leaving the audience wondering where the character could be.

Sound and Camera

For the sound to do with our genre and plot of the film i think it is suitable to use heavy breathing noises and a hand held camera shot to create change in the more formal style of steady cam, the breathing noises and hand held camera style will create the idea of a stalker/paedohopile character, as it will be a point of view shot on the screen the person filming will not be evident to the audience. By doing this it creates another train of thought for the audience, and a red herring leaving them asking who was filming? Why were they filming? What were they filming? etc. Throughout the clip there should be a small amount of music or sound effects used, from this the group intend to create our own music, I think that the style should be quite slow and eery, but at certain points have more upbeat, negative mixed music to create a different feeling from the audience.There will be a variety of different camera shots used within the clips will range from over the shoulder, panning from an ariel view to a behind shot, zoom into the character from ariel views, and hand held. This large variety of different camera shots will show diversity and have a professional look to our film.

Credits

My aim for the credits is to look as professional as they can be, we intend to either edit them into the scenes ontop of what else has been within the scene. Another idea that i have is similar to the film Se7en, I liked the idea of the credits being on the notebook, but for this I either intend to physically write the credits onto the notebook, and have them on the computer screen so they stand out from the rest of the content. I hope that the credits will look professional as they are important to the authenticity of the film. 

Hopefully these elements will be included within the film as I believe that they will make it look a lot better, and the micro and macro elements which are included will look professional and authentic.

Risk Assestment

As we are planning our film we have to identify any possible problems which may arise throughout our time with the camera's and films involved, the possible risks and what precaution we can take to make sure these will not happen, and how to deal with them if they do.

Risk

Possibility

Prevention

1 As we are filming in Cambridge and alone as a group there is a high chance that we could get lost, to stop this Luke and India have maps available on the phones so we will know our way around Cambridge.

2 Another element of filming in Cambridge there is a chance that people will be worried why we are filming and who we are filming, to solve this we will tell the people who walk past and ask that we are filming for our media project and there is nothing wrong with what we are doing.

3 There is a chance that Dan could have an epileptic fit is there is any flashing lights or sudden lights, to prevent this from happening we will not use any flashing lights, and as Dan is used to the situation, he can warn us if there are any potential problems soon to come.

4 As we intend to film an element of the project with people entering or leaving a bus, we will film it on a day where our teacher, Miss Mapp will be on bus duty, with her help we can make sure that the students know we are filming, and are controlled so that we can get a clear and successul shot.

5 As we are trying to portray our character within a dark room, there is the possibility that the camera will not be clear enough to see what we are filming, to prevent this we will take test shots of the room with different lights affecting the brightness, so it will get a good and clear shot.

Costume

As our main character is a police man, we will need access to a police uniform.Our main character will also wear casual clothes in one part to create the impression that he is a normal person although the audience don't know whether he is a good person or not.

Lighting

Most of our lighting will be darkish and gloomy. For one scene we need lots of people, so the lighting there will have to be bright and clear - the best time to do this would be in the afternoon or early evening. One other important thing we will have to consider is the weather, we might need a range that includes sunny, cloudy or twilight.

Location

For our filming will we need a bedroom for are opening scene and need to have access to a train/bus station, some of our filming may take place in school and some in Cambridge

Props

In the opening scene, some of our main props will include an i phone, a computer, a desk and a scrapbook. Using an i phone will suggest to the viewer that the character is wealthy and knowledgable.The scrapbook will contain some pictures of children, and the audience will be shocked as there is a police uniform on his desk.The viewer will see that the character is using the computer and is on Facebook - this creates a red herring because the audience don't know wheteher he's a paedophile, a fake policeman or a real policeman....