- Tripod - Dust sheet
- Camera with adobe premiere - Pillow
- Bible
- Clock
- Towel
- Comb
Equipment and Props
Equipment - Camera Props - Mattress
- Tripod - Dust sheet
- Camera with adobe premiere - Pillow
- Bible
- Clock
- Towel
- Comb
- Tripod - Dust sheet
- Camera with adobe premiere - Pillow
- Bible
- Clock
- Towel
- Comb
Behind the scenes
In todays myself, Lollie and Rory searched for a location for where we want our flashback to be. Here are some behind the scenes of 'Mania' photos:
Outfit planning
Main character - As the main character of our film opening is in a mental hospital we want to represent that he is unwell so the patient will be wearing a hospital robe. When the main character is in the flash back he will be wearing normal clothing for a boy for example smart shoes, jeans and shirt. In the flashback as the patient is so angry and upset his shirt will be ripped.
Patients family member - The patients family member will be played by a girl in again a very basic yet smart outfit. As only the top half of the family member will be shown on camera, she will be wearing a smart jacket with simple hair and makeup.
Patients family member - The patients family member will be played by a girl in again a very basic yet smart outfit. As only the top half of the family member will be shown on camera, she will be wearing a smart jacket with simple hair and makeup.
Mood board
This is the mood board for our film opening. The mood board shows some of our inspirations whilst creating the film opening.
The top left picture is of a battered cell where a patient has been living. This picture is on our mood board as in our film opening the patient is going to be living in a cold and dark room.
The picture underneath is of two guards putting a criminal into a van and is on the mood board because in our film opening there will be a shot of the patient being put into a van by two guards.
The picture underneath this is a close up of a girl in a prison cell. This picture is on our mood board as she has a very blank stare on her face which is what the patient in our film opening will look like.
The image of the book shelf is on the mood board as in the patients room will be a shelf full of his belongings including books.
The picture underneath this is a close up of a mans face which is on the mood board as when the flashback in our film opening is we will show it by zooming into the patients head.
There is a picture on the mood board of a very blurry face which is on the mood board as when the patient is no longer in the flashback the shot of his face will go from very blurry to eventually clear.
Another picture on the mood board is of a boy screaming, this is on our mood board because this is what our patient will look like whilst he is being restrained by two guards.
Underneath this picture is an image of a patient in a mental hospital. This picture is on the mood board because the gown she is wearing is what the patient in our film opening will be wearing.
The picture underneath this is an image of someone's eyes whilst crying which is on the mood board because when the patient comes back from the flashback he will potentially have tears in his eyes.
The picture that is on the top right of the mood board is of a girl with very plain hair and makeup. This picture is on our mood board is this is how we want the family member of the patient to look.
There is a picture on the mood board of Greek mythology because the title of our film is a meaning from Greek mythology.
Underneath this picture is a small group of people on a roadside. This picture is on the mood board because when the camera is moving through a crowd to get to the patient this is how big we want the crowd to be.
Shot list
In our film opening will be using a range of different shots whilst filming. Below is the list of the different shots we will be using in the order they will appear and what they will be showing.
Shot 3 - The next shot will be a point of view shot from the patient looking at the family member which is trying to speak to him. The shot will last for at least 20 second as the script for the family member has to be said within this time. Whilst the family member is speaking the camera will turn to another point of view shot looking at the patient.
Shot 5 - The next shot will be a tracking shot threw a crowd. This shot will be filmed as a point of view from a stranger walking threw a crowd. The audience will only see people moving out of the way for the stranger who is pushing threw the crowd. At the end of the crowd will be the patient screaming and being restrained by two guards.
Shot 1 - The first shot will be a pan of the room we are filming in. The pan will show details in the room and possibly include a shot of rain outside the window to show pathetic fallacy. This shot will last for at least 40 seconds as this is when the titles for our film will be showing.
Shot 2 - The second shot will be a still shot of the patient sitting still. The shot will be from far away so that the room he is in is obvious to the audience.
Shot 3 - The next shot will be a point of view shot from the patient looking at the family member which is trying to speak to him. The shot will last for at least 20 second as the script for the family member has to be said within this time. Whilst the family member is speaking the camera will turn to another point of view shot looking at the patient.
Shot 4 - The fourth shot will be a zoom into the patients face. We are doing this shot to represent going into the patients mind of him having flashback.
Shot 5 - The next shot will be a tracking shot threw a crowd. This shot will be filmed as a point of view from a stranger walking threw a crowd. The audience will only see people moving out of the way for the stranger who is pushing threw the crowd. At the end of the crowd will be the patient screaming and being restrained by two guards. 
Shot 6 - The sixth shot will be of the patient being put into a van by the two guards. This is going to be a still shot so that this is the only thing the camera focuses on and at a consistent level.
Shot 7 - The last shot will be a zoom out from the patients head to show that he is back in the room and no longer thinking about the flashback. When the shot is first shown on the screen it is going to be very blurry then as the camera is zooming out it will become clearer.
Timeline of Opening- timings, titles and sound
The timeline of our opening titles is going to be inspired by the titles in the film opening of the film 'The Holiday'. We have chosen for our film titles to look similar to these titles as we wanted the writing to be white and on the screen for a similar amount of time.
In the film opening of 'The Holiday' the titles are shown for 3 seconds each. The order of the titles in this film opening are very similar to what the order of the titles in our film opening will be. For example the main actors and actresses names are shown first, then the title is shown and after the producer, director, editors names etc are shown. For our titles they will each be shown for 3 seconds each so that the audience have enough time to fully read them.
The titles will be written in the font 'Cambria' in white writing. The titles will also be in capital letters to make them clear for the audience to read.
The music for our film opening will be this clip below. After a lot of research and listening to a lot of sounds, we finally came to this decision as it has elements of sorrow and also drama to represent our theme of our film and the genre well. We wanted our music to be slow to show how the patient feels emotionally drained and empty and to also how he feels the time is going slow in the mental hospital.
In the film opening of 'The Holiday' the titles are shown for 3 seconds each. The order of the titles in this film opening are very similar to what the order of the titles in our film opening will be. For example the main actors and actresses names are shown first, then the title is shown and after the producer, director, editors names etc are shown. For our titles they will each be shown for 3 seconds each so that the audience have enough time to fully read them.
The titles will be written in the font 'Cambria' in white writing. The titles will also be in capital letters to make them clear for the audience to read.
The music for our film opening will be this clip below. After a lot of research and listening to a lot of sounds, we finally came to this decision as it has elements of sorrow and also drama to represent our theme of our film and the genre well. We wanted our music to be slow to show how the patient feels emotionally drained and empty and to also how he feels the time is going slow in the mental hospital.
Fonts for titles and film name research
There were many different suggestions on what the name of our film should be. Eventually as a group we decided the name would be 'Mania'. There is some interesting backgrounds on why our film is called 'Mania'. The definition of mania is ' mental illness marked by periods of great excitement or euphoria, delusions, and over-activity. We thought this was an appropriate title for our film as it is about a patient with mental illness.
As a group we decided the font for our film title would be 'Cambria'.
This is what the title will look like in this font:
As a group we decided the font for our film title would be 'Cambria'.
This is what the title will look like in this font:
MANIA
ELLA OVERSON
CHARLOTTE MACDAVID
LOLLIE WIFFEN
RORY SKEPELHORN
Production diary
09-11-15
In the first planning meeting of our group, we all pitched out individual film ideas. Each of our film pitches had a different genre therefore we knew it was going to be a tough decision to decide as a group, what idea we were going to adapt, develop or extract inspiration from in order to produce a plan for our final film idea. We briefly discussed each film idea in our lessons, and then gave ourselves time to have a further think about each pitch over night in preparation to make an important decision what our final film idea will be.
10-11-15
In our second group meeting, although Lollie was not in the lesson, the rest of the group discussed our final film idea. The discussion got quite heated as the majority of the group felt the psychotic, mental hospital patient was the best idea for our film as it created a lot of opportunities to incorporate enigma codes and create suspense in our opening sequence. However, Rory was passionate about his film pitch therefore we assessed the positive and negative parts of his film and took it into consideration. We came to the conclusion that a ‘Spanish Rom-Com’ would be too time consuming and difficult to replicate in terms of a location that resembles a Spanish community. After a lot of deliberating, we came to a group decision that we were going to adapt Charlotte’s idea of a patient in a hospital and develop it in order to make it more of a group idea rather than just continuing the individual film pitch.
11-11-15
For the third time we met, we put together a brief film pitch as a group in preparation to show to the class the next day. We all added ideas in which we thought would make our film more intriguing for the audience. We started to research other films with a similar genre and analysed the titles regarding what font, colour and order of roles they were shown in. We looked at the film 'American Horror Story'. By researching film openings we also noticed the opening sequences displaying the titles. The group agreed that the most effective and empowering titles were ones with a simple font and a plain colour - are made a decision that we would have a simple font with white letters displaying our titles.
13-11-15
16-11-15
On our 5th meeting the four of us took the lesson to sit and discuss everything that was going to happen in our film, regarding the location, scenes, shots, sounds and individual job roles. We also researched into the props we were going to use and how we was going to place them in out location. We discussed the feedback we got from our peers following the group film pitch and took into account all of the constructive criticism we received and adapted our film plan accordingly. This was a very productive meeting as we all got a clear understanding of what our film was going to potentially turn out like. The group agreed on a strong story line and discussed ways in which we could use Rory's acting skills to make the film come across very serious and professional. In this meeting, we also came up with a brief film script to get a feel for how the scenes are going to go. In the meeting previous to this one we all suggested to each other that we should research film opening sequences so we could begin to plan the titles for our openings. We all agreed that simple yet effective titles in terms of the font and colour was the best way to display the titles in our film opening. Films such as 'The holiday' and 'American Horror Story' were our inspiration for our titles as they are big films and using simple writing for the titles made a big impression as unlike some films that we had researched - they did not overcomplicate them to try and make them look impressive.
17-11-15
In todays lesson our main focus was choosing the right sound track for our film. As a group it took a long time for us to decide on what track was going to feature in our film, as we all imagined a certain sound in our minds. We all wanted to make sure that we definitely had the right track to suit our genre and to portray the theme of our film. As our film focuses on a Mentally scarred and emotionless patient, we found it difficult to choose the right sound that suited our genre appropriately without giving the audience a different idea of our film than we intend. When researching many instrumental sounds, we found that the majority would either make the film sound too sad or it was a suspense builder to make the audience feel like a big event was about to happen, and neither of these was a theme that suited our film as the genre is a drama we wanted subtle music in the background to represent the emptiness and frailness of the patient. We finally came to a joint decision and chose the sound that gave our film the best feel. Also in this meeting, Ella and Rory produced the timeline for the camera shots and researched inspiration for these shots by looking at films and series that they knew to have similar shots and incorporated them into the timeline. Overall this was a successful lesson as we finalised very important decisions.
18-11-15
In todays meeting, the main focus was keeping on top of our work in order to ensure that we do not fall behind. A lot was achieved in this lesson. The mood board was completed, which included lots of pictures in which we got our inspiration from for the camera shots, outfits plans and locations; we also included pictures that represented themes. The title for our film is called 'MANIA' which means the spirit for insanity in Greek Mythology, hence why we included a picture that represented Greek Mythology.
23-11-15
In today's lesson we began to practice our filming in regard to the camera angles and shots. Also in this lesson, we went through our script and editors certain lines. We established the tone of voice and the body language the characters needed at each stage of the scene. The majority of the groups in our media class had started to film properly for the film openings however as our group decided not to film at school, we took the opportunity to practice everything and finalise some decisions such as the structure out location for filming would take in terms of the positioning of each prop. We actually practiced filmed in this lesson and then uploaded our footage to the computer so we could sit down together as a group and analyse them and list things that we need to work on such as the volume of our speech. Overall this lesson was successful as we all started to properly get a vision of what our opening film was going to be like to the audience and we adapted things accordingly.
24-11-15
In today's lesson we took the opportunity to get out of the classroom, which we have spent an will spend a lot of time in over the editing process, and decided to go to one of the proposed locations to take a couple of shots of it and all together to get a vision of what out film will potentially be like. Although at times we took it as a 'selfie' opportunity we still got a feel for the place and saw how we could use it to it's full potential. Rory felt that as an actor it was helpful to visit a location first to familiarise yourself with your surroundings in order to completely free yourself in front of the camera . So for Rory and Lollie, our two actors, this session was a morale boost for the team.
25-11-15
Finally, the day had come to start filming the opening section of our sequence there was a mixture of excitement and nervousness from our actors. After school, we went to Ella's house where our set has been specifically designed including the props for our scenery. We felt it worked quite well and it would allow us to reach Mania's cinematic potential, the location and setting where we filmed was everything we hoped it would be. The first thing to do was for Charlotte to apply the make-up to Rory and Lollie in order to create the image of our characters in our film. Secondly we had to make make those final tweaks to our set and play around with the camera while experimented with different camera angles and shots to decide which would show off our set in the best way possible and make it look the post realistic. The Director went through some things she wanted to see from Rory and Lollie. In the couple hours we did of filming we did we believe we created some good shots in setting the picture for the rest of the film and really created a raw emotive piece which hopefully for the final product can be visible to a wide audience.
26-11-15
Today we began the process of eating in which Rory took the lead. We started by uploading all the clips that we had recorded the previous day and went through them seeing whether they had potential to make the first draft or whether we would need to re-film anything. Looking through the clips we all saw a lot of potential specifically in the shots where it is all stripped back and is allowed to give almost a tour of the institution. The position of each prop was well placed and effective, the prop we felt had the most effect was the wooden toy that moved in a seesaw motion as it gave a creepy feeling. We wanted to capture an essence of a journey through this room and we felt that this has been done effectively with the multiple changes in direction of shot. Whilst Rory was editing he was doing his best to ensure that all the transitions were as soft and as natural as possible. When Rory began to insert the titles into the opening sequence he made them appear as the beat of the music was sat its peak, it gave the impression that a title appearing was a result of the beat dropping which is very effective. Rory asked for the opinion of students who have done the task in a previous area and was pleased to get there seal of approval in the early stages of editing as it let the group know that the editing was moving in the right direction.
27-11-15
In today's lesson Rory showed the group what he done in regards to editing and asked for suggestions for improvements. In this lesson we also made a group decision to change elements of our film opening, for example we were going to feature a flash black. After getting an insight into film and reviewing our footage, we felt that the scene we all had envisioned would be too difficult to create in order to get us good marks, if we tried to over complicate it, it would disregard the hard work we, as a group, had put in to create the simple but effective feel of our film. The very opening scene of our film is very slow and detailed and therefore trying to cramp too much into it would not give it a professional and realistic feel.
30-11-15
In today's lesson while Rory continued to edit whilst Lollie and Ella researched into sounds effects we could include in our film by using foley such as doors slamming, people screaming and the clock ticking. Charlotte continued to update the production diary and also update the blog regarding the progress we had made. As a group, we further discussed the sound and transitions of the editing part of our film opening, and each made encouraging suggestions as to what to add into the sequence in terms of transitions.
1-12-15
The main focus of today's lesson mainly consisted of keeping up to date with the blog and production diary. We reviewed the footage we had got from filming on the 25th November and gathered the scenes that we were not going to use as they had not worked out due to bad camera angles or actors laughing etc and began to make a 'bloopers' film to show at the end of our opening sequence so that our viewers could have an insight into our group on the set when filming 'MANIA'. We arranged another time to film some more footage to get the extra shots we needed which would be the afternoon of the 2nd of December. In this meeting we also discussed the particular shots that we wanted to include as Lollie, Charlotte and Ella felt very strongly about including an array of shots in order to achieve the top grades. These shots will include a match on action shot, tracking shots, and point of view shots.
2-12-15
Today was a very different day compared to all the other days we have been editing and filming for our film 'MANIA'. When filming the group had a disagreement and resulted in our main actor Rory deciding that he no longer wanted to feature in our film opening, obviously this delayed the process massively for the group as we then had to decide what we was going to do next and who was going to play out main character, as we had already filmed a fair amount of footage this set us back and made the rest of the group feel stressed and rushed i regard to finishing our first draft for the deadline. Charlotte, Lollie and Ella decided that Charlotte was going to take over the role as the main character ad Ella was the designated camera women, and Lollie already had an acting role within our film, and as director, the group felt that it would be easier for charlotte to take on the role even though she was an inexperienced actor. The girls did not mess around when it came to re-filming the scenes for the film, we all took this difficult situation in our stride and done our best to make the film as good as we possibly could. This filming session ended up being very productive as we managed to film the majority of our scenes, and were satisfied of the outcome and as a team were proud of what the girls had achieved in relation to the circumstances. Although we had managed to resolve the filming situation, Rory deciding that he did not want to feature as our main character meant that we had to edit some of out blog as it revolved around him being the main character.
3-12-15
Although we didnt have a lesson today Charlotte, Lollie and Ella went back to the filming location do film the final shots we needed for our film opening. The shots were successful and we really began to get an idea as to why our final film would turn out like, we discussed the sound effects we could put in the background of our film in order to resemble the genre and theme of the film. Overall, the girls had worked hard to make our film as good as we could considering the circumstances.
4-12-15
In this lesson, the whole group sat down with Mrs Brooks to discuss what had happened within our group, and what our plan was to resolve the situation. We explained how even if the situation was resolved, Charlotte will continue to be the actor of the patient in the mental hospital as we had filmed all of our footage and we was not prepared to waste the time and effort we had put in to getting our film back on track. After our discussion, Lollie and Ella went to the green room to record some voice overs for Lollies character of the visitor, while Charlotte reviewed the footage that we had films previously. After Lollie and Ella had finished, the girls sat down and began to insert and replace the old footage with the new footage, and also add in the new scenes that we had filmed. The film was coming together nicely and we had added a few effects like the transitions etc, and also we had finished our title sequence. Today was the deadline for our first drafts to be handed, so we gave our draft to our teacher although there were a few things missing like sound effects and foley which we intended to add in when the group next met and begin to make the final amendments for our final film opening which would get marked.
7-12-15
In todays lesson, we reviewed every groups first drafts from each of the both classes, after viewing each one, as a class we all said what we thought went well throughout the film and also gave some constructive criticism as to what the group could change or adapt in order to score higher marks. Some of the feedback we gave ranged from lighting of some shots, shaky camera shots and also music in the background. We briefly analysed every film we watched as a class in preparation to individually evaluate every film the next day in great detail.
In the first planning meeting of our group, we all pitched out individual film ideas. Each of our film pitches had a different genre therefore we knew it was going to be a tough decision to decide as a group, what idea we were going to adapt, develop or extract inspiration from in order to produce a plan for our final film idea. We briefly discussed each film idea in our lessons, and then gave ourselves time to have a further think about each pitch over night in preparation to make an important decision what our final film idea will be.
10-11-15
In our second group meeting, although Lollie was not in the lesson, the rest of the group discussed our final film idea. The discussion got quite heated as the majority of the group felt the psychotic, mental hospital patient was the best idea for our film as it created a lot of opportunities to incorporate enigma codes and create suspense in our opening sequence. However, Rory was passionate about his film pitch therefore we assessed the positive and negative parts of his film and took it into consideration. We came to the conclusion that a ‘Spanish Rom-Com’ would be too time consuming and difficult to replicate in terms of a location that resembles a Spanish community. After a lot of deliberating, we came to a group decision that we were going to adapt Charlotte’s idea of a patient in a hospital and develop it in order to make it more of a group idea rather than just continuing the individual film pitch.
11-11-15
For the third time we met, we put together a brief film pitch as a group in preparation to show to the class the next day. We all added ideas in which we thought would make our film more intriguing for the audience. We started to research other films with a similar genre and analysed the titles regarding what font, colour and order of roles they were shown in. We looked at the film 'American Horror Story'. By researching film openings we also noticed the opening sequences displaying the titles. The group agreed that the most effective and empowering titles were ones with a simple font and a plain colour - are made a decision that we would have a simple font with white letters displaying our titles.
13-11-15
16-11-15
On our 5th meeting the four of us took the lesson to sit and discuss everything that was going to happen in our film, regarding the location, scenes, shots, sounds and individual job roles. We also researched into the props we were going to use and how we was going to place them in out location. We discussed the feedback we got from our peers following the group film pitch and took into account all of the constructive criticism we received and adapted our film plan accordingly. This was a very productive meeting as we all got a clear understanding of what our film was going to potentially turn out like. The group agreed on a strong story line and discussed ways in which we could use Rory's acting skills to make the film come across very serious and professional. In this meeting, we also came up with a brief film script to get a feel for how the scenes are going to go. In the meeting previous to this one we all suggested to each other that we should research film opening sequences so we could begin to plan the titles for our openings. We all agreed that simple yet effective titles in terms of the font and colour was the best way to display the titles in our film opening. Films such as 'The holiday' and 'American Horror Story' were our inspiration for our titles as they are big films and using simple writing for the titles made a big impression as unlike some films that we had researched - they did not overcomplicate them to try and make them look impressive.
17-11-15
In todays lesson our main focus was choosing the right sound track for our film. As a group it took a long time for us to decide on what track was going to feature in our film, as we all imagined a certain sound in our minds. We all wanted to make sure that we definitely had the right track to suit our genre and to portray the theme of our film. As our film focuses on a Mentally scarred and emotionless patient, we found it difficult to choose the right sound that suited our genre appropriately without giving the audience a different idea of our film than we intend. When researching many instrumental sounds, we found that the majority would either make the film sound too sad or it was a suspense builder to make the audience feel like a big event was about to happen, and neither of these was a theme that suited our film as the genre is a drama we wanted subtle music in the background to represent the emptiness and frailness of the patient. We finally came to a joint decision and chose the sound that gave our film the best feel. Also in this meeting, Ella and Rory produced the timeline for the camera shots and researched inspiration for these shots by looking at films and series that they knew to have similar shots and incorporated them into the timeline. Overall this was a successful lesson as we finalised very important decisions.
18-11-15
In todays meeting, the main focus was keeping on top of our work in order to ensure that we do not fall behind. A lot was achieved in this lesson. The mood board was completed, which included lots of pictures in which we got our inspiration from for the camera shots, outfits plans and locations; we also included pictures that represented themes. The title for our film is called 'MANIA' which means the spirit for insanity in Greek Mythology, hence why we included a picture that represented Greek Mythology.
23-11-15
In today's lesson we began to practice our filming in regard to the camera angles and shots. Also in this lesson, we went through our script and editors certain lines. We established the tone of voice and the body language the characters needed at each stage of the scene. The majority of the groups in our media class had started to film properly for the film openings however as our group decided not to film at school, we took the opportunity to practice everything and finalise some decisions such as the structure out location for filming would take in terms of the positioning of each prop. We actually practiced filmed in this lesson and then uploaded our footage to the computer so we could sit down together as a group and analyse them and list things that we need to work on such as the volume of our speech. Overall this lesson was successful as we all started to properly get a vision of what our opening film was going to be like to the audience and we adapted things accordingly.
24-11-15
In today's lesson we took the opportunity to get out of the classroom, which we have spent an will spend a lot of time in over the editing process, and decided to go to one of the proposed locations to take a couple of shots of it and all together to get a vision of what out film will potentially be like. Although at times we took it as a 'selfie' opportunity we still got a feel for the place and saw how we could use it to it's full potential. Rory felt that as an actor it was helpful to visit a location first to familiarise yourself with your surroundings in order to completely free yourself in front of the camera . So for Rory and Lollie, our two actors, this session was a morale boost for the team.
25-11-15
Finally, the day had come to start filming the opening section of our sequence there was a mixture of excitement and nervousness from our actors. After school, we went to Ella's house where our set has been specifically designed including the props for our scenery. We felt it worked quite well and it would allow us to reach Mania's cinematic potential, the location and setting where we filmed was everything we hoped it would be. The first thing to do was for Charlotte to apply the make-up to Rory and Lollie in order to create the image of our characters in our film. Secondly we had to make make those final tweaks to our set and play around with the camera while experimented with different camera angles and shots to decide which would show off our set in the best way possible and make it look the post realistic. The Director went through some things she wanted to see from Rory and Lollie. In the couple hours we did of filming we did we believe we created some good shots in setting the picture for the rest of the film and really created a raw emotive piece which hopefully for the final product can be visible to a wide audience.
26-11-15
Today we began the process of eating in which Rory took the lead. We started by uploading all the clips that we had recorded the previous day and went through them seeing whether they had potential to make the first draft or whether we would need to re-film anything. Looking through the clips we all saw a lot of potential specifically in the shots where it is all stripped back and is allowed to give almost a tour of the institution. The position of each prop was well placed and effective, the prop we felt had the most effect was the wooden toy that moved in a seesaw motion as it gave a creepy feeling. We wanted to capture an essence of a journey through this room and we felt that this has been done effectively with the multiple changes in direction of shot. Whilst Rory was editing he was doing his best to ensure that all the transitions were as soft and as natural as possible. When Rory began to insert the titles into the opening sequence he made them appear as the beat of the music was sat its peak, it gave the impression that a title appearing was a result of the beat dropping which is very effective. Rory asked for the opinion of students who have done the task in a previous area and was pleased to get there seal of approval in the early stages of editing as it let the group know that the editing was moving in the right direction.
27-11-15
In today's lesson Rory showed the group what he done in regards to editing and asked for suggestions for improvements. In this lesson we also made a group decision to change elements of our film opening, for example we were going to feature a flash black. After getting an insight into film and reviewing our footage, we felt that the scene we all had envisioned would be too difficult to create in order to get us good marks, if we tried to over complicate it, it would disregard the hard work we, as a group, had put in to create the simple but effective feel of our film. The very opening scene of our film is very slow and detailed and therefore trying to cramp too much into it would not give it a professional and realistic feel.
30-11-15
In today's lesson while Rory continued to edit whilst Lollie and Ella researched into sounds effects we could include in our film by using foley such as doors slamming, people screaming and the clock ticking. Charlotte continued to update the production diary and also update the blog regarding the progress we had made. As a group, we further discussed the sound and transitions of the editing part of our film opening, and each made encouraging suggestions as to what to add into the sequence in terms of transitions.
1-12-15
The main focus of today's lesson mainly consisted of keeping up to date with the blog and production diary. We reviewed the footage we had got from filming on the 25th November and gathered the scenes that we were not going to use as they had not worked out due to bad camera angles or actors laughing etc and began to make a 'bloopers' film to show at the end of our opening sequence so that our viewers could have an insight into our group on the set when filming 'MANIA'. We arranged another time to film some more footage to get the extra shots we needed which would be the afternoon of the 2nd of December. In this meeting we also discussed the particular shots that we wanted to include as Lollie, Charlotte and Ella felt very strongly about including an array of shots in order to achieve the top grades. These shots will include a match on action shot, tracking shots, and point of view shots.
2-12-15
Today was a very different day compared to all the other days we have been editing and filming for our film 'MANIA'. When filming the group had a disagreement and resulted in our main actor Rory deciding that he no longer wanted to feature in our film opening, obviously this delayed the process massively for the group as we then had to decide what we was going to do next and who was going to play out main character, as we had already filmed a fair amount of footage this set us back and made the rest of the group feel stressed and rushed i regard to finishing our first draft for the deadline. Charlotte, Lollie and Ella decided that Charlotte was going to take over the role as the main character ad Ella was the designated camera women, and Lollie already had an acting role within our film, and as director, the group felt that it would be easier for charlotte to take on the role even though she was an inexperienced actor. The girls did not mess around when it came to re-filming the scenes for the film, we all took this difficult situation in our stride and done our best to make the film as good as we possibly could. This filming session ended up being very productive as we managed to film the majority of our scenes, and were satisfied of the outcome and as a team were proud of what the girls had achieved in relation to the circumstances. Although we had managed to resolve the filming situation, Rory deciding that he did not want to feature as our main character meant that we had to edit some of out blog as it revolved around him being the main character.
3-12-15
Although we didnt have a lesson today Charlotte, Lollie and Ella went back to the filming location do film the final shots we needed for our film opening. The shots were successful and we really began to get an idea as to why our final film would turn out like, we discussed the sound effects we could put in the background of our film in order to resemble the genre and theme of the film. Overall, the girls had worked hard to make our film as good as we could considering the circumstances.
4-12-15
In this lesson, the whole group sat down with Mrs Brooks to discuss what had happened within our group, and what our plan was to resolve the situation. We explained how even if the situation was resolved, Charlotte will continue to be the actor of the patient in the mental hospital as we had filmed all of our footage and we was not prepared to waste the time and effort we had put in to getting our film back on track. After our discussion, Lollie and Ella went to the green room to record some voice overs for Lollies character of the visitor, while Charlotte reviewed the footage that we had films previously. After Lollie and Ella had finished, the girls sat down and began to insert and replace the old footage with the new footage, and also add in the new scenes that we had filmed. The film was coming together nicely and we had added a few effects like the transitions etc, and also we had finished our title sequence. Today was the deadline for our first drafts to be handed, so we gave our draft to our teacher although there were a few things missing like sound effects and foley which we intended to add in when the group next met and begin to make the final amendments for our final film opening which would get marked.
7-12-15
In todays lesson, we reviewed every groups first drafts from each of the both classes, after viewing each one, as a class we all said what we thought went well throughout the film and also gave some constructive criticism as to what the group could change or adapt in order to score higher marks. Some of the feedback we gave ranged from lighting of some shots, shaky camera shots and also music in the background. We briefly analysed every film we watched as a class in preparation to individually evaluate every film the next day in great detail.
BFI - Media trip
For our media trip we visited the British Film Institute in London. The trip was very interesting as there were many guest speakers who play different roles in the film industry. The BFI trip is also going to benefit us as we learnt things we need to know for our exams.
Firstly we had a talk from Rob Miller who is a film and media consultant. He spoke to us about the differences between independent and mainstream films. Rob gave us examples of independent and mainstream films for example Star Wars and Frank. There were discussions between the audience and Rob on what makes these films independent and mainstream.
Next there was a question and answer session with Faye Ward who is one of the UK's most prominent young producers who has recently produced 'Suffragette' which was one of the key British films in 2015. Faye answered many questions to do with her new film 'Suffragette' which included things such as how long it took, how long the process of editing was and more.
After the question and answer with Faye Ward we had a session with Rob Miller and he spoke about distribution, marketing and what makes a successful marketing campaign. This session was very interesting as we learnt about how films are distributed and by who. Rob also spoke about how much money distribution and marketing costs.
Next we had a question and answer with Gareth Lowrie who has worked in film marketing for over nine years and currently holds the position of Senior Marketing Manager at Universal Pictures UK. Gareth discussed the importance of marketing. He also answered many questions about being the distributor of the film Jurassic World.
Then we had another session with Rob Miller about Multiplex/Independent/Small chains. Rob explained how most films people watch are produced by one of the 'Big Six'. He also explained how some film companies are owned by bigger film companies and why.
Finally we had another question and answer with Paul Ridd who is Marketing and Acquisitions Manager, Picturehouse. Paul spoke about what types of films Picturehouse show and the importance and quality of independent films.
Firstly we had a talk from Rob Miller who is a film and media consultant. He spoke to us about the differences between independent and mainstream films. Rob gave us examples of independent and mainstream films for example Star Wars and Frank. There were discussions between the audience and Rob on what makes these films independent and mainstream.
Next there was a question and answer session with Faye Ward who is one of the UK's most prominent young producers who has recently produced 'Suffragette' which was one of the key British films in 2015. Faye answered many questions to do with her new film 'Suffragette' which included things such as how long it took, how long the process of editing was and more.
After the question and answer with Faye Ward we had a session with Rob Miller and he spoke about distribution, marketing and what makes a successful marketing campaign. This session was very interesting as we learnt about how films are distributed and by who. Rob also spoke about how much money distribution and marketing costs.
Next we had a question and answer with Gareth Lowrie who has worked in film marketing for over nine years and currently holds the position of Senior Marketing Manager at Universal Pictures UK. Gareth discussed the importance of marketing. He also answered many questions about being the distributor of the film Jurassic World.
Then we had another session with Rob Miller about Multiplex/Independent/Small chains. Rob explained how most films people watch are produced by one of the 'Big Six'. He also explained how some film companies are owned by bigger film companies and why.
Finally we had another question and answer with Paul Ridd who is Marketing and Acquisitions Manager, Picturehouse. Paul spoke about what types of films Picturehouse show and the importance and quality of independent films.
Individual film pitch
Individual film pitch
The team decided not to go with my film opening idea as there were better ideas from a different member of the group. I also wanted to go with a different idea with our film opening.
The team decided not to go with my film opening idea as there were better ideas from a different member of the group. I also wanted to go with a different idea with our film opening.
Analysing film openings
I personally really liked this film opening and if I was an examiner I would give this film opening a level 4. This is because they used a very interesting and unique location which really made the audience believe the boy was somewhere where his screams couldn't be heard. I also really liked the storyline of the film opening as it is different to the usual horror/thriller. The students used very good editing skills whilst editing the opening and also included very effective titles. The only bad point I would have about this film opening is that it almost feels like a trailer and not a film opening. However I enjoyed watching it and it left enigma codes which made me want to keep watching.
Mask -
Personally I really enjoyed watching this film opening. If I was the examiner marking this film opening I would have given them a high level 3 or level 4. This film opening had a very interesting and original storyline. As the storyline left many enigma codes it makes the audience want to keep watching. I also really liked how the students showed the opening titles. The titles were written in bold, white writing which is quite basic and simple however they were placed in unexpected places. For example one of the credits is shown slanted on a fence. The students also used very appropriate music for the film and included many non diegetic sounds.
Revelation -
This film opening was very interesting to watch as it left many enigma codes. If I was the examiner I would have given this film opening a level 3 or 4 as it had good sound included diegetic and non diegetic and also a good storyline. I also liked the titles in this film opening as they were simple yet effective. One thing however which I think the students could have improved was the editing as the editing for this film opening was quite basic. Also the genre for this film was unclear from the storyline. However overall it made me want to keep watching the film as it had an interesting storyline and gave many enigma codes.
Analysing film openings
In todays lesson we learnt what the mark criteria was for when we make our film opening and how the examiner would mark them. We also learnt what we need to include in our film openings and what them examiner would be looking for. In lesson we looked at previous students film openings and analysed them. We said what mark we would give them if we were the examiner and said what we liked and didn't like about their film openings. While watching the film openings we looked out for things like music, titles, camera work etc.
One of the first film openings we analysed was 'Roses are red':
- From the examiner this film opening was given a level 3 which is the equivalent to a 'B' grade. I agreed with this decision as I enjoyed the different ways the students showed the credits and also liked that they used a wide range of camera angles. However what I didn't like about this film opening was that the music in the background was very boring and repetitive. The film opening also did not leave any enigma codes as its main focus was to show the credits. In my opinion there was narrative shown as the only thing the audience could see was a girl getting ready whilst the titles were being shown.
The next film opening we analysed was ' My Mother and I':
- This film opening was given a level 2 by the examiner which is the equivalent to a 'C/D' grade which I completely agreed with. This is because the film left many enigma codes which makes you interested in what is going to happen next. The students also showed the credits by making them blurry to then go into focus which I liked as it was different and interesting. They also used relevant music in the background which was a good thing because as the film opening was a thriller the music created tension which wouldn't of happened if they chose the wrong music to have in the background. However what I didn't like about this film opening was the location they used was very simple and boring. Also the students did not use a variety of camera shots and almost all of the transitions of shots were strait cuts.
The next film opening which we analysed was 'A schools nightmare':
- Personally I really enjoyed watching this film opening. From the examiner this film opening was given a level 4 which is the equivalent to an 'A' grade which I would have given the film opening if I was the examiner for many different reasons. The main reason I would give this film opening a level 4 is because it had a very interesting storyline and also used a very wide range of camera angles. I also liked the colouring in the film opening and also how the opening credits were shown. The only negative comment I had about this film opening was I believe the title of the film opening was not relevant to the storyline. The opening scene included a young boy being run over by a middle aged man driving a car. As the title of this film opening is ' A schools nightmare' I do not believe it was relevant as the location was not based in a school nor were the boys dressed in school uniform so there was no relevance to a school in the opening.
The next film opening we analysed was 'The edge':
- This film opening was scored a level 4 by the examiner which I would agree with also. From the film opening I assumed the film was going to be an action. The film opening clearly showed this as there was a chase between a teenage boy and two middle aged men who appeared to be working for a secret service. The film opening I believe deserved a level 4 as they had a very good and interesting location and included many different camera shots. The students also included very good titles for the film as they were in simple, plain writing and colouring yet were very interesting to watch as they were in lots of different places around the location to fit the scene which I found very interesting. The film opening also had very relevant music in the background which was non diegetic sound. The only negative comment I have about this film opening was the chase started to drag by the end and could have finished slightly sooner than when it did.
The last film opening we analysed was 'Blitz':
- This film opening which we analysed was given a level 4 by the examiner which is the equivalent to an 'A' grade which I would have also given to the film opening. This is because they had a very good location for their film. The students used one of their own empty sheds and completely changed it to look like a young person had been living there for their entire life. The students paid attention to detail when creating the room which makes it very realistic and believable. The location was very creative and original which is what I really loved about it. In the beginning of the film opening was a shot of all the details in the room which had very smooth camera work and used different angles. The titles for this film opening were very simple but effective. Blitz left many enigma codes from the opening which makes the audience want to know what happens next and to keep watching. The only negative feedback I gave for this film opening was at some points the storyline became slightly confusing however it was planned and shot very well and I enjoyed watching it.
One of the first film openings we analysed was 'Roses are red':
- From the examiner this film opening was given a level 3 which is the equivalent to a 'B' grade. I agreed with this decision as I enjoyed the different ways the students showed the credits and also liked that they used a wide range of camera angles. However what I didn't like about this film opening was that the music in the background was very boring and repetitive. The film opening also did not leave any enigma codes as its main focus was to show the credits. In my opinion there was narrative shown as the only thing the audience could see was a girl getting ready whilst the titles were being shown.
The next film opening we analysed was ' My Mother and I':
- This film opening was given a level 2 by the examiner which is the equivalent to a 'C/D' grade which I completely agreed with. This is because the film left many enigma codes which makes you interested in what is going to happen next. The students also showed the credits by making them blurry to then go into focus which I liked as it was different and interesting. They also used relevant music in the background which was a good thing because as the film opening was a thriller the music created tension which wouldn't of happened if they chose the wrong music to have in the background. However what I didn't like about this film opening was the location they used was very simple and boring. Also the students did not use a variety of camera shots and almost all of the transitions of shots were strait cuts.
The next film opening which we analysed was 'A schools nightmare':
- Personally I really enjoyed watching this film opening. From the examiner this film opening was given a level 4 which is the equivalent to an 'A' grade which I would have given the film opening if I was the examiner for many different reasons. The main reason I would give this film opening a level 4 is because it had a very interesting storyline and also used a very wide range of camera angles. I also liked the colouring in the film opening and also how the opening credits were shown. The only negative comment I had about this film opening was I believe the title of the film opening was not relevant to the storyline. The opening scene included a young boy being run over by a middle aged man driving a car. As the title of this film opening is ' A schools nightmare' I do not believe it was relevant as the location was not based in a school nor were the boys dressed in school uniform so there was no relevance to a school in the opening.
The next film opening we analysed was 'The edge':
- This film opening was scored a level 4 by the examiner which I would agree with also. From the film opening I assumed the film was going to be an action. The film opening clearly showed this as there was a chase between a teenage boy and two middle aged men who appeared to be working for a secret service. The film opening I believe deserved a level 4 as they had a very good and interesting location and included many different camera shots. The students also included very good titles for the film as they were in simple, plain writing and colouring yet were very interesting to watch as they were in lots of different places around the location to fit the scene which I found very interesting. The film opening also had very relevant music in the background which was non diegetic sound. The only negative comment I have about this film opening was the chase started to drag by the end and could have finished slightly sooner than when it did.
The last film opening we analysed was 'Blitz':
- This film opening which we analysed was given a level 4 by the examiner which is the equivalent to an 'A' grade which I would have also given to the film opening. This is because they had a very good location for their film. The students used one of their own empty sheds and completely changed it to look like a young person had been living there for their entire life. The students paid attention to detail when creating the room which makes it very realistic and believable. The location was very creative and original which is what I really loved about it. In the beginning of the film opening was a shot of all the details in the room which had very smooth camera work and used different angles. The titles for this film opening were very simple but effective. Blitz left many enigma codes from the opening which makes the audience want to know what happens next and to keep watching. The only negative feedback I gave for this film opening was at some points the storyline became slightly confusing however it was planned and shot very well and I enjoyed watching it.
Titles analysis
In todays lesson we were showed a clip of many different film titles from a range of different films. I am now going to analyse the opening titles from the film 'The Holiday'. The titles for this film are shown up until 3.40 minutes into the film.
The next title which is shown at 1.01 minutes into the film is the name of the main actress in the film. Even though there are large gaps between when the titles are being shown the name only stays on the screen for 3 seconds.
The first title which is shown in the film is who the production companies are and it is shown 19 seconds into the film. The titles are written in white in all capital letters. The main production companies are shown first in the titles as they have put their money into the film so are therefore one of the most important factors.
In the next 42 seconds there are other titles shown. There are very large gaps between when the titles are shown so that when they are on the screen so you notice them easily.
For the next 43 seconds the other main actors and actresses titles are shown. There names are written in capital letters in white writing. The names are shown on the screen for 3 seconds each and then fade away.
After the main actors and actresses names are shown the next title which appears is the name of the film. The writing of this title is in a much bigger text than the previous titles but is still in white capital letters. This title is shown 1.46 minutes into the film and is held on the screen for 4 seconds.
After the name of the film has been shown there are no titles for 17 seconds. At 2.06 minutes into the film the next title shown. For the next 18 seconds more actors and actresses names are shown using the same type of text as the others.
Once all of the actors and actresses names have been shown on the screen the next title which is shown is who the casting for the film was done by. This title is held on the screen for 3 seconds and is also written in white with capital letters.
The next title which is shown on the screen is at 2.38 minutes into the film. The title is the name of the person who was responsible for the music in the film. This title is held on the screen for 3 seconds. After this title is shown for the next 1.14 minutes the rest of the titles are shown and are each held on the screen for 3 seconds. The next titles include people such as the director, producer and editor. The last title in the opening scene is shown at 3.38 minutes into the film.
Overall titles for this film are very simple and plain yet are very effective. All of the titles shown in this film opening are written in capital letters with white text. In the film opening because the colouring is quite dark the titles are easy to read. As the titles on the screen are held for 3 or 4 seconds this gives the audience time to read them clearly. Also each of the titles are spaced out well which means the audience will see clearly when they are coming on the screen and do not have much to read.
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