Character

My main character - Beth - will be played by my friend Siobhan. Siobhan is a good actress and was the protagonist in the preliminary task. This works well as I need someone that can get into character and express emotions well for this genre as social realism films are very much about the emotion behind the protagonist.

My character doesn't care how she looks or what clothes she wears. She's carefree of what people think as she doesn't think she belongs anywhere. She doesn't have friends so she is lonely and usually sad.

filming

FILMING 1


WHAT WENT WELL

I started filming today. I managed to film most of the scenes as the weather was surprisingly good and I had a lot of time. I was quite lucky as the weather was very good considering it's winter, so I managed to get the lighting how I wanted it - to seem more realistic and natural, (so when the sun was shining brightly and reflecting onto the camera, it looked good).

WHAT DIDN'T GO SO WELL...


I had a few problems with the filming inside my friends house as there wasn't a lot of room to get the shots I wanted. To solve this problem I changed how I wanted my shots, and the shot-type. And I will have to change the transitions from what I had originally planned when I'm editing.


FILMING 2


WHAT WENT WELL...
The costume that Siobhan was dressed in looked really good and was exactly the look I was hoping to get. We managed to get everything I needed for this section filmed in very good tie, however it was very dark so this may make it hard to see what's going on in the film. But this is okay, as filming these scenes didn't take long I have time to re-take it this weekend if this is the case.


WHAT DIDN'T GO SO WELL...
The original location I had planned for this scene (see previous posts) was too dark to get a decent picture. So we had to hike around Newmarket, with Siobhan dressed the part in ripped tights and a fairly long black coat wearing leopard print heels... so we did get a few funny looks. However we did manage to find a decent alley with street lights to film in instead.


PROBLEMS...


I have looked through my footage today, and there are some things I need to re-film due to poor lighting. This was the scene with Siobhan running in the dark, unfortunately she is going to have to  freeze again so I can re-take this section!

final animatic actually complete!

Production Cards

In today's lesson I started to do my 'PENGUIN PRODUCTIONS' animation. At home I had made a Plasticine penguin, and I used stop-motion to make it look like the penguin is dancing! This took up the whole lesson, as I had issues with the camera moving so the pictures were from slightly different views etc, however it was very productive as I think it looks really good and I have 4 seconds of my film sorted!


9/12/11


Today I have been putting my text from LiveType onto final cut to put on top of the penguin dancing. I managed to do this well with ease, and also has time to play about with effects. I haven't decided on a final effect yet, however I have got on idea of the the Vignette effect as I think this looks good with my idea.




Here is a shot of the production card.

Improving my Animatic

From the feedback I got I decided it would benefit my animatic if I followed the advice I was given.

Improvements I have made:

- Putting a close up of the main character's (Beth's) face into the opening... this is so the audience can understand more and sympathise with her more as they will be able to see her facical expressions. The audience will be able to relate to the protagonist.

- Including shots of the her house and the town she is in. This will benefit the opening sequence as it will allow the audience to see the place where Beth lives and the surrounding houses/flats.

- I have also completed my production cards music! I decided on what sounds I wanted, and I think it suits the names really well.

Props & Costumes

COSTUMES

I won't need to buy any clothes/accessories for my film as between me and my friends we can all supply the exact things I want my characters to wear.

My friend has a bag very similar to the one below, this is exactly the thing I want as it looks fairly scruffy and indie.

Smoking

My character, Beth, smokes. And obviously I am too young to buy cigarettes, but luckily my friend Will, who made the music for my opening and plays Beth's uncle is 18 and was able to supply us with a cigarette and lighter for Beth to have whilst being filmed.

Location

This is the location I will be using in my first few shots (in the flash forward shots). The telephone box in the left of this shot is the one which my actress will be running towards and make a phone call on. I choose this location as the flats in the shots will look quite dirty. And also, because of the horsetrack right next to the footpath, the footpath is quite dirty, so it fits in well with the run-down low-class look.

Animatic feedback

I've established from my peer assessment that the pace I have set out for my film is relevant and conventional to that of a social drama film. I am really pleased with this as I was unsure if it started to move too fast towards the end of the two minutes.

Also, I have introduced the storyline well, as I've made it clear why she's in the situation she is in. Although the flash forward at the beginning is quite confusing, so I will need to try and make this more clear that the shots before the film title are the results of the rest of the film. It is in the future, and the rest of the film is building up to that moment.


IMPROVEMENTS:

However, things I will need to improve in Tuesdays lesson will be putting in a close up of the actresses face. This will make the audience more able to sympathise with her at the start, and get feel more emotional about her situation. I will also try to add in more establishing shots - shots of her surroundings and location. It isn't very clear at the moment that she is living in a run-down house, however this house in a fairly middle class village - due to her uncle inheriting her mothers house when she passed away. Once I've got these shots in hopefully the audience will be able to relate more to her isolation and how she doesn't fit in.

I also need to make the music fade in and out. At the moment it just starts and stops, which is confusing for the audience, and as my peer has said, it will be more beneficial to the audience and suit the social drama genre more if I fade the music out.

animatic for opening sequence

Here is my current animatic for my opening sequence. There are some improvements I am planning to make, however I am please with how it has turned out so far.

Production Schedule

HERE IS MY PRODUCTION SCHEDULE...

Production Cards

NAMES

My first production company is called DYNO FILMS. It came from DYNAMIC FILMS, but then I thought I'd change it to DYNO as I think this sounds better!

This is my first attempt at using livetype. I downloaded a different font from online to use, as I didn't think any of the fonts on livetype suited the name DYNAMIC FILMS. Even once I changed the name the font still suits the title very much. 

Here is my first finished production card...

My second production company name (the 'in association with...' company) is PENGUIN PRODUCTIONS. This has mainly come from the fact that I like penguins and it is an alliteration so sounds good.

This is the 'IN ASSOCIATION WITH'.

I'm not finished with the 'PENGUIN PRODCUTIONS' production card yet, as I can not decide whether I like it how it is or not. It is very basic, as I want the attention to go on the dancing penguin I will have to the left of production.

Animatic

MAKING MY ANIMATIC

I had a lot of difficulty taking the photos of my shots for the animatic... as the camera's SD card appeared to not work. This was very time consuming as I had to retake all the photos after trying to make the original SD card work.

Once everything was on the computer I was very pleased with myself how much I managed to get done.

So far I have managed to get the timing right - and it's on the time limit! I have also put the music into the background... however I'm still unsure of when to start the music. I can start it at the begining along with the production names, or I can start it as the opening sequence story actually starts.


Luckily I know a very talented guy who was more than happy to record the music for me! It was just what I wanted and fits in very well with the mood I'm trying to get across to the audience.

Scripting

It took me a while to figure out how to use script buddy, as there was a lot of language on there that I wasn't familiar with. However, once I understood, it has definitely been beneficial in the process of writing my script. It is layed out very clearly and it is easy to understand and read. I have now planned all of my scenes and shots.


Here are screen shots of my 4 page long script:

Story-boarding 2

In yesterday's lesson I managed to complete all my storyboards. 


These are the shots that I think will be the most effect with the audience...

This shot will let the audience see the character for the first time. They will get an understanding of how she lives and who is she. This shot will hopefully also allow the audience to see how I have developed my techniques of filming through the media course... as this shot is planned to be a long, low angle shot.

This shot will allow the audience to get a closer idea of how 'Beth' is going to be living. Her uncle (who she lives with) will be sleep on the couch downstairs with lots of empty alcohol bottles lying around. It will create a sense of sympathy for the girl within the audience. I'm not entirely sure how to do this shot... I'm torn between an over the shoulder shot, or a long shot. During filming I will film both ways and see which one works better.

This shot will introduce the location on my film. This will give the audience a wider understanding of 'Beths' life and the place in which she lives in. It's going to be an extreme long shot so that a lot of things will fit into it, and the audience can see more to do with the location. It will also reflect how small 'Beth' feels in comparison to everyone else... being small and hardly ever noticed.

Story-Boarding

In Friday's lesson I have started to storyboard my opening sequence. I have changed my some of my idea today, as I realised that it seemed more like a trailer than an opening sequence.


My first shot is going to hopefully create a sense of shock in the audience, as the girl is running away from a man crying. The audience will feel confused about what has just happened, but there will be a voice over were she will explain everything.

Analysis of Questionnaire Results

Initial Ideas for my opening sequence

So far, I've found it quite hard to think of a unique idea for my opening sequence that isn't too conventional, but isn't completely different to what the audience will probably expect...



A young girl, dressed innapropriately for her age, is running towards a phone box crying. She is running away from someone she has just sold herself to. When she get to the phonebox she calls someone.

As this is happening, there is a voice over of her introducing herself and why she is where she is. - Her mum passed away, and she doesn't know where her dad is, so she's living with her uncle who is only in his 20's and doesn't really care about her.

It will fade to black, the first few TITLES will come on.

It will then fade out of black to a scene in the past of this girls life.


This scene will then be of her leaving her home for school with her uncle layed asleep on the couch with empty beer bottles all around him. She'll be walking to school and pass some boys from her school who just look and laugh at her.

My Questionnaire

Social Realism Questionnaire

Social Realism is a genre of film such as ‘This is England’ and ‘Kidulthood’

1)           What is your gender? (Please circle)

Male                                              Female

I want to know the gender of my audience so I will get more of an idea of who might watch my opening sequence. If they are mostly boys I'm not going to put pink flowers, for example, into it.

2)           How old are you? (Please circle)

                      less than 20

20-30


31-40

41+

The age range of my audience is very important. I already know roughly what age group my audience will be, but it's good to get a few people to answer the questionnaire who are either side of that age range. And this will help me try to widen my target audience as I might be able to include some things that people outside of my target age range would enjoy.

3)           Do you like Social Realism films? Please state why in the given area below...

Yes                                                 No

……………………...……………………………………………………………………………………………….

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

I want to know why people like, or don't like, social realism films. If people don't like them, I can find out why they don't, then not include this feature in my opening sequence. Similarly, if someone likes this genre they will hopefully say why and I can include this feature.

4)           Have you seen any of the following Social Realism films? (Circle those that apply, maybe more than 1)

This is England                         Kidulthood                         Adulthood

                      Submarine                                 Other

                        4b.)               If ‘other’, please state what…

                                                 ……………………………………………………………………………………….


I'd like to know what other social realism films people have seen, and this can help inspire my ideas.

5)                 Do you enjoy these films? Please state why…

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………....................

This links with question 4, it will give me an idea of why they enjoyed, or didn't enjoy, the film. And I can have these things in mind when thinking of idea's.

6)              What feature of the film would you prefer to be introduced in a Social Realism film first? (Please Circle)

Main Character                        Location                              Other Characters             Other

6b.)               If ‘other’ please state what...

                        …………………………………………………………………………………..


I want to know what to introduce first in my opening sequence... and knowing what my target audience would prefer, will help me choose the most appropriate thing.

7)              What location would you prefer a Social Realism film set in most of the time? (Please circle)

Pub                                Run-down flat                  Run-down house                          

In a field                      Around a town                  Other

7b.)               If ‘other’, please state what...

                        ………………………………………………………………………………………

It would be very helpful to know what my target audience would prefer a social realism film to be mostly set in. The location is a very important part of this genre of film, so I don't want to get it wrong. I've given my audience options to choose from so I can see, not just the most popular option, but how popular the other options are too. I might be able to include more than one location.

8)              What characteristics would you prefer a main character to have? (Please circle
              where applied)

Boy                                 10-15 years                                    Optimistic

Girl                                 16-20 years                                    Pessimistic

                                                                      

                                         21+ years                                           

Before I find actors for my opening sequence, I need to know what my audience would expect the main character to be like - gender, age.

9)             Do you prefer titles being… (Please circle)

      Overlayed                                                                                            Inter-titles

 

Titles are also very important in the opening sequences, so I want to know what people would prefer to see out of an overlayed title or an inter-title.

10)              What storyline would you most enjoy in a Social Realism film? (Please circle)

Drug abuse                 Gang culture                      Domestic violence                         Other

I would like to know what sort of storyline the audience would be expecting. This will help me think of a relevent story that they will enjoy.

11)              Would you like music to be played in the background of the opening sequences? (Please circle)

Yes                                 No

11b.)            If ‘yes’, please state what genre of music

                        ………………………………………………


Music is something I definately need to find out about. I want to know wether I should actually play a backing track through the opening sequence, and if so, what genre?

12)              Would you like a fast paced introduction? (Please circle)

Yes                                 No

12b.)            If ‘no’, please state what speed you like the introduction

                        …………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Should I have a fast paced opening sequence? I want to know what my target audience would prefer and expect the pace to be like. Do they like slow paced films where not a lot happens? Or do they want to see a lot in the first few minutes?

Audience Research

Why is audience research important?

To make a film the best it can be, you need to know what will appeal to your audience. There's no point making a film that no one will like. By carrying out research, you can find out what your target audience will like, and what aspects they enjoy in films. Although, you do need to decide on who your target audience are before you do research on them.


A questionnaire is a good method of finding this research, as you can ask open or closed questions to get detailed responses, to help you see what your audience would be expecting. It could also help you find suitable actors and actresses, locations and music.

Textual Analysis of 'Kidulthood' [Menhaj Huda, 2006]

STORYLINE


It's about the life of a group of teenagers living very troubled lives from up-west London.

ENIGMA CODES

Why are the two quieter girls afraid of the other girls?

• Why has everyone modified their uniform - trackies, jewellery etc?
• What's going to happen at this party every ones invited to?
• What's being drilled?
• What did he just put in the yellow bin?

CHARACTERS

We aren't introduced to the characters with names as such, but we can tell from the first few minutes who 'runs' the playground and who the others look up to and get intimidated by. They are all stereotypical teens from low-income backgrounds, and you can tell this from the way they dress and speak.

The girls have modified their uniforms to look quite scruffy, they were big gold jewellery that looks pretty tacky. This makes them seem very stereotypical and 'chavy'.

Although there are two girls that don't fit in with everyone else, and this is straight away very obvious. Their body language screams out shy and intimidated, as they are standing with their heads down. This makes the audience feel worried for them, as they clearly aren't fitting in and they other girls don't like them at all.


Most of the boys are wearing hoodies and trackies, so right from the beginning we can tell that they don't care about school or school rules. We are introduced to the 'main' boy of the school, we can tell he is the one everyone looks up to, are intimidated by and respects because other boys are on the look out for him or surrounding him.

LOCATION

All of the opening is set in school grounds, most of it being on the school playground and some in a classroom. The school playground is surrounded by walls and fences, this makes it seem to be very low-budget and run-down - suiting the social realism conventions.

LIGHTING


It is mainly natural lighting used, this is so that the film doesn't look fake or glamourised. The natural lighting makes it feel more realistic and as though you are there as it could be similar lighting to that of what you can see outside everyday.

CINEMATOGRAPHY


To begin with, in the opening sequence, there is almost a few establishing shots so the audience get to understand where the film is and what it's like there, as the first few scenes are all on the playground area.


The camera also moves quite fast back and fourth around all the different groups of friends that are on the playground showing how different they all are. The pace of these movements reflects how much tension there is within the playground and how things are very fast moving and paced.

There are quite a few different angle shots during the opening sequence. Especially in the class room when one girl is beating up another. The below image is a high-Angle point-of-view shot, this makes the audience feel as if they are there and they are the girl that is beating up the girl on the floor.

EDITING

The above images are part of an eyeline match shot. There is not pan here, it is just two different shots showing what the girl on the right is looking at. This helps keep the speed of the opening.

The above shots use the 180 degree rule. The change shots from a medium-shot to a close-up shot so that the audience don't get bored and the faces of the character's are emphasised, but they use the 180 degree rule so that the audience don't get confused.

SOUND

You can hear murmur's of conversations from all over the playground and you can also hear the guy running, for example, when he's running to his friends from putting that bag into the yellow bin. These are both diegetic and make the scene feel a lot more realistic and as if you were there.

There is music in the background, its not a song, but like an urban tune that keeps the speed of the opening sequence and could reflect what these teens like to listen to. This is non-diegetic.

TITLES

The text on the bottom two shots are both white, with the contrasting black coloured background. This seems to be a convention of social dramas. The text for the bottom two shots fade on, then fade off again... this builds tension with the audience.

For the top shot, the text and background of the text (the triangle shapes) all build up, coming flashing onto the screen on at a time, to create the final effect. This is good as it is dramatic.

Textual Analysis of Trainspotting [Danny Boyle, 1996]

STORYLINE


The storyline isn't really clear within the first few minutes of the film, but by 10 minutes it's clear who the main character is and that he wants to come off drugs. His group of friends and him are hooked on drugs and he wants to come off, but its obviously not going to be as easy as it sounds, as we find out during the opening that it's not his first time of trying to quit it.

ENIGMA CODES


Questions the opening sequence makes the audience ask themselves are:

Why are they running away, what have they done?

• Who are they?
• Why are they now playing football?
• Who's the baby? And why are they doing drugs around it?
• Who's the voice over?
• Why does he need all them things to help him come off drugs?

CHARACTERS

The characters are all introduced straight away, all in similar ways - with a freeze frame of them and their names.

The main character is introduced first, which is very important as that way the audience will know that he is an important character. The characters are represented as plain, scruffy looking people, not glamourised at all. They are all stereotypical of low/working-class people from council areas, and also don't seem to be very knowledgeable. The first (and only) female we see in the extract, we aren't introduced to, which makes the film seem to be male orientated. She is also dressed very basic and plain, she is wearing jewellery, but it doesn't look very expensive. The main characters are all male.

These factors taken into consideration and the totally run-down flat that they characters are in will not make the audience feel sorry for them, but quite pitiful. Even more so because of the baby that we see in the room next to the adults who are injecting heroin. This will have a lot of impact on the audience, as they will feel all different emotions about the baby, and the drugs... all within the first few minutes.

LOCATIONS

During this extract, we see a few different locations. The area the film starts at, from what we see of the town or city, seems to be quite dirty and not very well looked after. with natural lighting that helps bring the film to life and seem more realistic. Where the character's are playing football seems rather poor and basic, made up of fences and a couple of small goal posts. The lighting where they are playing football isn't natural lighting, but the mis-en-scene definitely creates a realistic atmosphere.

The flat is very run-down and in some ways, broken. There is a huge hole in one of the walls, and a lot of the other walls are half missing or fallen down, similarly there's wires hanging from walls etc... this all creates a very low-class feel. These are all things I would expect of a social realism film.

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Camera effects:

This camera shot is right at the beginning, and works well as it creates a fast moving pace. The low-angle long shot lets the audience see the location and can clearly see whats going on. This is used to quickly set the scene and pace of the film.

 

The use of low-angle shots is used a few more times within the opening, this engages the audience well as it makes them feel as if they are there looking up at the character.

A tracking shot is used to follow the characters running away.

The above image is effect as a low-angle shot as it makes 'Tommy' seem more scared and surrounded.

EDITING

To keep the pace and effect of the opening sequence is done well by not using many different editing techniques.

At the beginning, a match-on-action is used, cutting from the characters faces to their feet as they are running. This quickens the whole scene up and creates more tension with the audience.

SOUND

There is a non-diegetic track building up in the background keeping the pace of the men running and building the tension with the audience.

Also, you can here the noise of the men running, which is diegetic, and this makes the audience feel more involved as the running then seems more realistic. Another diegetic sound is that of the car breaking. It makes everything seem more real.

TITLES

The titles sequence is very different from most films I've seen. I think it's effective how the title flashes, and I think this reflects the stability of the characters lives in the film. The white coloured text, I've noticed, is in a lot of social realism/drama films... so trainspotting clearly follows the conventions of this.