Below is the overall evaluation of our thriller. Whilst producing this evaluation, we all had an equal amount of input into how we should answer each question. Even though some of our questions are written by us as individuals, we all contributed therefore making it become a team effort.
Question 1- Abbey Cotterill
Question 2- Scott Cartwright
Question 3- Alexandra Reddish
Question 4- Abbey Cotterill
Question 5- Abbey Cotterill and Scott Cartwright
Question 6- Adam Lievesley
Question 7- Whole group contribution, edited by Adam Lievesley
For question 1, I was experiencing a difficulty with getting the link to work as sometimes it did work when I clicked on it, but others it didn't. So heres the direct link to the answer of question 1:
Sunday, 30 March 2014
Thursday, 27 March 2014
Saturday, 22 February 2014
All three shooting schedules
Over the past 2 weeks we have compiled a lot of footage for our thriller. Below are the three shooting schedules (4th, 5th and 13th of February) which include information about the equipment we used, the costuming and shots we were going to use.
Saving Private Ryan Textual Analysis- written by Adam Lievesley, presented by Scott Cartwright
This Textual Analysis includes information found and written by Adam Lievesley.
The main information about the film and the presentation of the analysis is by Scott Cartwright.
Filming in the woods
On Thursday the 13th of February and Friday the 14th we had two days off of school so we decided to make the most of the time we were given to film the remaining shots we needed.
On Thursday morning around 10:30, we all met up and went to our main filming location, Hardwick Wood in Wingerworth. Whilst we were there, we filmed all of the shots that were included in our shot plan and we also experimented with a few other shots because as we were filming we came up with new ideas. We also filmed additional shots just in case we needed them/some weren't very good. As a whole it had taken us around an hour and a half to get all of the footage we needed and we walked back to school where Adam and I transferred the footage onto the school's computers as a back up.
Because we all knew that we needed to focus and get these shots done, I think that we worked well as a group and enjoyed ourselves whilst filming. We all contributed new ideas which we were able to put into our thriller and we listened to each other really well. So overall, the filming process has been really enjoyable. We plan to begin editing our thriller when we come back to school on the 24th of February.
On Thursday morning around 10:30, we all met up and went to our main filming location, Hardwick Wood in Wingerworth. Whilst we were there, we filmed all of the shots that were included in our shot plan and we also experimented with a few other shots because as we were filming we came up with new ideas. We also filmed additional shots just in case we needed them/some weren't very good. As a whole it had taken us around an hour and a half to get all of the footage we needed and we walked back to school where Adam and I transferred the footage onto the school's computers as a back up.
Because we all knew that we needed to focus and get these shots done, I think that we worked well as a group and enjoyed ourselves whilst filming. We all contributed new ideas which we were able to put into our thriller and we listened to each other really well. So overall, the filming process has been really enjoyable. We plan to begin editing our thriller when we come back to school on the 24th of February.
Sound Recording for our Thriller
As our thriller is a psychological one, the main character Rae frequently hears her own thoughts. to get an idea of what should be going through her tormented mind, we watched a few youtube clips of people hearing voices. However the ones Alex and I watched didn't really give us an idea of what she should be hearing until our media teacher suggested that we watched the clip from the 1976 thriller movie 'Carrie'. We watched the scene where Carrie was at prom and she got some form of blood poured all over her and her inner thoughts (voices) were replayed over and over to represent her mental torment. Myself and Alex used a sound recorder and recorded Alex reciting certain lines from the script and some improvisation. We will use this audio over our video to give the impression that the thoughts are coming from Rae.
At the start of the lesson, we asked some of our friends and the rest of our media group to laugh into the sound recorder's microphone. We will use this audio to create the same effect as the dialogue Alex and I recorded. However this audio will only be included in the scenes where we are flashing back to Rae's school days.
Whilst Alex and myself were recording the spoken dialogue, Adam and Scott stayed in the media room and compiled all of the audio we had collected together on a programme called Mixcraft. Mixcraft allows us to layer the sounds to get the effect we want.
Here is the link for the 'Carrie' clip we used to get inspiration from:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KD0EUQnElEE
At the start of the lesson, we asked some of our friends and the rest of our media group to laugh into the sound recorder's microphone. We will use this audio to create the same effect as the dialogue Alex and I recorded. However this audio will only be included in the scenes where we are flashing back to Rae's school days.
Whilst Alex and myself were recording the spoken dialogue, Adam and Scott stayed in the media room and compiled all of the audio we had collected together on a programme called Mixcraft. Mixcraft allows us to layer the sounds to get the effect we want.
Here is the link for the 'Carrie' clip we used to get inspiration from:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KD0EUQnElEE
Filming Log
Tuesday 4th February-
Today in our media lesson we began filming some of our interior shots for our thriller. Whilst Adam and Scott sorted out our equipment, I helped Alex get into character (We sorted out her make-up, hair and clothing). Originally, we wanted to do some exterior shots to show how Rae's character is isolated from the rest of the school/world but because the weather has been unpredictable we decided to change out exterior shots to interior shots in order for us top have more time filming. During this hour, Adam filmed Alex sitting at a table in the corner of the social area away from the rest of the pupils. Myself and Scott threw pieces of screwed up paper at Alex to show the physical torment that Rae goes through on a daily basis. To make the shots brighter (because the area we were in wasn't very well lit) we used individual lights that clipped onto the top of the camera. Adam also filmed several shots of Alex staring out into the courtyard.
Wednesday 5th February-
In today's media lesson, we spent an hour filming. We got several different shots of Alex (Rae) such as Alex standing at a table on her own admiring everyone else's friendships and a shot of Alex standing at the glass doors looking out into the distance. However during this shoot we had an issue with the reflections of myself and Adam in the glass so we had Scott hold two of the individual lights near Alex's face to take some of the reflection away. We also moved to the left of the camera (it was pointing towards the right) which seemed to work.
Thursday 6th February-
As we had two days worth of footage, our plan for todays lesson was to sort through it all and see if we needed to do any re-takes. After sorting through the footage we decided that we didn't need to do any retakes but we do have a lot of bloopers which we placed into a separate folder.
Today in our media lesson we began filming some of our interior shots for our thriller. Whilst Adam and Scott sorted out our equipment, I helped Alex get into character (We sorted out her make-up, hair and clothing). Originally, we wanted to do some exterior shots to show how Rae's character is isolated from the rest of the school/world but because the weather has been unpredictable we decided to change out exterior shots to interior shots in order for us top have more time filming. During this hour, Adam filmed Alex sitting at a table in the corner of the social area away from the rest of the pupils. Myself and Scott threw pieces of screwed up paper at Alex to show the physical torment that Rae goes through on a daily basis. To make the shots brighter (because the area we were in wasn't very well lit) we used individual lights that clipped onto the top of the camera. Adam also filmed several shots of Alex staring out into the courtyard.
Wednesday 5th February-
In today's media lesson, we spent an hour filming. We got several different shots of Alex (Rae) such as Alex standing at a table on her own admiring everyone else's friendships and a shot of Alex standing at the glass doors looking out into the distance. However during this shoot we had an issue with the reflections of myself and Adam in the glass so we had Scott hold two of the individual lights near Alex's face to take some of the reflection away. We also moved to the left of the camera (it was pointing towards the right) which seemed to work.
Thursday 6th February-
As we had two days worth of footage, our plan for todays lesson was to sort through it all and see if we needed to do any re-takes. After sorting through the footage we decided that we didn't need to do any retakes but we do have a lot of bloopers which we placed into a separate folder.
Shooting Schedule
Originally we were aiming to film the wood scenes for our thriller on the 30th of January, but due to the weather taking a bad turn we were unable to film. However, we all thought that we could reuse this shooting schedule for our next filming session which took place on the 13th of February. We all had our own individual sheets but we've used the same photo for our blogs.
Risk Assesment
Myself and my group members decided to put together a risk assessment to reduce the chance of accidents and to avoid hazards whilst filming. Because most of our filming has taken place in a wood, we thought that devising a risk assessment would be very fitting for our situation.
Step 1 Identify the hazards
· Tripping over sticks/rocks/falling down small holes and steep slopes as we are filming in a wood.
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· Rain, which will make our surrounding slippery.
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· The rain damaging our equipment. Getting in lenses and ruining the optical elements and possibly causing fungus.
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· If its windy, there will be leaves and branches flying everywhere.
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· The wind may also Blow over some equipment causing damage .
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Step 2 Decide who might be harmed and how
Us (filming): May contract hypothermia if the weather turns bad whilst we are filming.
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The actors: At a greater risk of contracting hypothermia due to the lack of thermal clothing she is wearing.
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Members of the public: No members of the public will be harmed during the making of our thriller.
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The wet ground may cause the actors and filming crew to slip and fall over possibly pulling muscles, twisting ankles and possibly bumping heads or breaking bones.
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Step 3 Evaluate the risks and decide on precautions
· To avoid damaging the equipment, make sure all equipment is waterproofed. With umbrellas or carrier bags over equipment.
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· Check the weather forecast to avoid getting caught in the rain.
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Wear appropriate footwear to reduce the risk of slipping and supporting our ankles.
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We will also take mobile phones in case we need help if somebody gets injured.
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We will also notify people what we are doing and where just in case something goes wrong and we can’t get in contact with anyone.
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Monday, 3 February 2014
Black Swan Trailer- Textual Analysis
Black Swan stars Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis and Vincent Cassel. It was directed by Darren Aronofsky and was then released worldwide in 2010. Natalie Portman won the Academy award for Best Actress In A Leading Role for her role as Nina Sayers in Black Swan. Black Swan was rated a 15 by the BBFC as it contains explicit scenes involving swearing and sexual references.
To begin with, we see Portman's character dancing alone in a single white spotlight. This connotes that she is a pure and virginal woman but also vulnerable as white is a colour of innocence. Portman is also wearing a white ballet leotard and tutu which connotes that she is young and still has a lot to learn. Furthermore, the white spotlight may act as a beacon of hope for the character Nina because white is often associated with being pure and angelic.
To begin with, we see Portman's character dancing alone in a single white spotlight. This connotes that she is a pure and virginal woman but also vulnerable as white is a colour of innocence. Portman is also wearing a white ballet leotard and tutu which connotes that she is young and still has a lot to learn. Furthermore, the white spotlight may act as a beacon of hope for the character Nina because white is often associated with being pure and angelic.
Towards the middle of the trailer, there is a close up on Portman's shoulder blade putting the focus on the single black feather that has just appeared. This is to highlight the fact that she is mentally turning into the Black Swan because the role is sending her clinically insane. It also connotes that as a character in the film, she has developed into a stronger person who has been fully able to embrace her role in the ballet. However, the use of a close up on the feather makes the audience wonder if she is physically turning into the Black Swan or if it is just a figment of her imagination and she is going insane. It leaves the audience on a cliff hanger drawing them in to make them want to go and watch the film to see what happens to Nina.
There is some dialogue in the trailer which is used to draw the audience in further and make them want to watch the film. There is also incidental music played which is composed using a piano, violins, and wind instruments. This type of sound is stereotypical for a film like this because piano music is often associated with ballet and the main theme of the movie is ballet. The music creates a dark and creepy atmosphere as its very slow and quiet then speeds up and gets gradually louder. This subverts the customary view that ballet music always has some element of high pitched tune and has a joyful, happy atmosphere. This suggests that in post production, the sound has been mixed because the volume of the music is constantly changing to support the atmosphere withing the movie.
There is some dialogue in the trailer which is used to draw the audience in further and make them want to watch the film. There is also incidental music played which is composed using a piano, violins, and wind instruments. This type of sound is stereotypical for a film like this because piano music is often associated with ballet and the main theme of the movie is ballet. The music creates a dark and creepy atmosphere as its very slow and quiet then speeds up and gets gradually louder. This subverts the customary view that ballet music always has some element of high pitched tune and has a joyful, happy atmosphere. This suggests that in post production, the sound has been mixed because the volume of the music is constantly changing to support the atmosphere withing the movie.
As for the editing, a non continuity system is used to show the different aspects of the film. Also, the fact that the trailer is made up of snippets from the movie shows the build up of tension and makes the viewer want to see the whole movie.
Wednesday, 29 January 2014
Test advertisement poster for our thriller
On Monday Adam had some spare time on his hands so he decided to have a play around with his camera and try out some shots for our thrillers advertisement poster. Featured below is the poster which he designed and also a PowerPoint of how he created it.
Monday, 27 January 2014
Thriller Advertisement poster
After much deliberation, myself and Alex decided that this poster would be the best one to use because we felt as though it fully grasped the concept of the thriller. Alex chose to use a wood because the majority of 'torment' will be filmed in a wood.
Permission to film on school property
Just before Christmas, I sent the following email to our Head teacher Mr Knowles to request permission to film students within the school premises. It was important to get permission because we weren't sure if there were any guidelines regarding the child protection policy.
"Dear Mr Knowles,
"Dear Mr Knowles,
Myself, Scott Cartwright, Adam
Lievesley and Alexandra Reddish are AS Media students. We are writing to you to
enquire whether it would be at all possible to set up a camera in a specified
location in/around school on a set date during a change over time between
lessons. The object of this to get a piece of time-lapse film which shows the
hustle and bustle of school life, one of the ideas of our film is for a
psychological/supernatural thriller where the protagonist is a school girl who
may be frequently seen as an outcast.
We understand that this is a
big ask as we would need permission from lots of different people. However, all
faces and the school badge can be anonymised by filming using a shallow depth
of field and this means that it would be blurred and out of focus so no faces
would be seen and only the outlines and colours of uniforms would be visible
etc. Also the footage would be sped up, used as a backdrop and only last for a
few seconds.
If you would like us to
explain this to you in person for you to get a better idea of what this will
entail (especially with regards to Child Protection policy) and hopefully
something the school can facilitate. If given permission, we will show you the
footage we plan to use so you can give it your final go-ahead or refusal.
Thank you,
Abbey, Scott, Adam and
Alexandra.
12AMS1 "
A few weeks later we got a reply which said
" Hello Abbey,
Complete the filming and then shown it to me.
Thank you and enjoy the holidays!
Mr Knowles
Andrew J Knowles
Headteacher "
Advertisement posters for our thriller and thriller name
Towards the end of last week, Alex had some free time on her hands so she decided to have a play around with some pictures and she came up with these possible ideas for our advertisement poster. Last Thursday, myself and Alex were thinking about possible names for our thriller and we both agreed that 'Torment' would be very suitable because Rae, the character in our thriller, is going insane through the torment she has faced all of her life.
Our Logo!
Possible Logo's For Our Thriller
Thursday, 23 January 2014
Storyboard with shot plans
Over the past two lessons, I created a powerpoint with a step by step plan of what is happening in each scene and what shots we plan to use. This should help when we come to film our thriller because we will know exactly what we need to do.
Wednesday, 22 January 2014
A change of target audience
Today we sat down as a group and we had a discussion regarding our target audience. Originally, we decided on the age rating of a 15 because there were elements of psychological distress and bullying, but after much deliberation we decided to lower the age rating of our thriller to a 12/12A because this way a wider audience will be able to view it. Also we felt that people from the ages of 12+ should be mature enough to deal with the bullying scenes, so the age 12 rating is fully fitting to our thriller opening.
VoxPop- Audience Research
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UL6fi6tCk5A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImTwfx9ez5s
Here are two Voxpop's that Alex recorded of her dad and her dog (her mums voice over). This helped us to decide what we needed to include in our thriller because Alex asked questions about what the expectations of a thriller were and what the audience thought needed to be included.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImTwfx9ez5s
Here are two Voxpop's that Alex recorded of her dad and her dog (her mums voice over). This helped us to decide what we needed to include in our thriller because Alex asked questions about what the expectations of a thriller were and what the audience thought needed to be included.
Rae's Character Profile
Alex and I decided that we should do a character profile for Rae. This was mainly because we don't know that much about who she really is. We created a powerpoint with information about Rae's background, what she dresses like and her personality. For her overall image, myself and Alex took some inspiration from Winona Ryder's character from 'Beetlegeuse' who is also an outcast and is a rather reserved teenager. We decided to look further into other characters from movies to get a good idea exactly what the character of Rae needed to be and we felt that Winona's character reflected Rae's in a way because they are both outcasts in society, they both have a similar dress sense and they are both into witchcraft/ghosts.
The Script and Shot Plans
This is our final script written by Scott Cartwright. Adam has annotated and has drawn diagrams of what the shots will look like.
Tuesday, 21 January 2014
Storyboard for our thriller!
Over the past two lessons, myself and Alex have created this storyboard to get a better idea of exactly what is going on in our thriller.
Thursday, 16 January 2014
The income bracket and status of the audience
Looking at the income bracket and social status chart, we have agreed that our thriller will be aimed at people on the levels E to C1 because we don't think that people above this level will take an interest in watching it.
Target audience for our thriller
Alex and I decided yesterday that we desperately needed to
decide who the target audience for our thriller is. As our thriller opening is
going to be quite dark and the genre is a psychological thriller we have
decided that our target audience will be the age of 15+ including adults. We chose
this age because people who fit in to this particular age bracket are more
likely to grasp the concept of the thriller and we feel as though they would
appreciate it more. Children under the age of 15 may potentially be disturbed
because some scenes include bullying and are upsetting.
Wednesday, 15 January 2014
Monday, 6 January 2014
Saturday, 4 January 2014
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