Reflections on the filming process

The research we did before we started any filming was an important part of the process. It taught us more about the thriller genre and its sub genres so we could decide what sub genre we wanted to use. From our research we liked the idea of doing a Film Noir. The research we did into this was important because it taught us the typical codes and conventions that Film Noir use so that we could use them in our own work.

From the research we started the planning process. We made mind maps to help organise our ideas and lay them out in a way so we could see our ideas and review them to decide which idea was the best to use. We chose the cinema idea from our mind map to use as the narrative for our opening however, the narrative changed a lot throughout the process to suit our settings we had and our characters so we didn't stick to the original idea, it had to be adapted. Storyboarding was important because it helped us to lay out the sequence of our opening in detail however, we didn't make our storyboard very detailed which meant we had to redo it a couple of times so we had a more detailed plan to refer to when we were filming. During the filming process we didn't refer to our storyboard much to help us which probably slowed us down when filming as we didn't stick to a set plan, we hadn't organised the shots we were going to use so we were making up what we were doing more on the spot instead of referring to a detailed storyboard. We also practised shot we could use, which we had learnt are conventions of film noir like the dutch tilt, so we could try to include them in our opening to make it look effective.

Evaluation

AS Media Evaluation from ejh4

Film Noir Title Sequence

Order of our titles

This is the order titles should appear in a title sequence:

• The logo of the production company should appear first.
• Followed by the studio.
• "A Film By" should be next, for us this would be - A Film By 

                                                                                     -Jade Dockerill

                                                                                     - Prada Nayar

                                                                                     - Emily Hardy

                                                                                    - Tiffany Leung

• This is then followed by the name of the film - "Forever"
• Then the actors should appear on screen in order of importance.
• This will be followed by:
• "Filmed By..."
• "Edited By..."
• Produced By..."
• And "Directed By..." - This title should appear last because it is the most significant.

The research Tiffany did into this earlier was very useful as we knew which order to put our titles in as they are an important part of the opening. We were told all the titles had to last the same amount of time so they all last for 3 seconds and they all have to be in the same font throughout so we settled on a white serif font which adds to the film noir, classy style.

Reaction shots

After receiving feedback from Mr Michie from showing him our first edit he said it would be better if we included some reaction shots when the characters are watching the show as we had only used one long shot. This would ensure we used more camera angles and it made it flow a bit better.

                            

                            

                           

These are the shots we included to give a bit more insight into the characters individually. Doing this helped the audience to understand more about the characters because it shows us more about their thoughts and feelings as it spends longer looking at their facial expressions and body language. 

Sound

For our sound we decided to have Tiffany playing the piano throughout the whole sequence. We chose to this as we thought it sounded quite effective having the music they are watching playing throughout. Also we can match the audio for example when there is a high note on the music we can out that with a cut to create tension. This music is also non copyright which saves us looking on the internet for sound because we have recorded it ourselves.

Titles

Jade made our production logo on Photoshop. We liked this as it is really simple and it is in black and white which matches our film. We used the name Hoyile as it's Tiffany's name in Chinese and it sounds good and is unique. We chose a serif font which makes it look more professional and mature.

This is the logo Jade made for the studio. The initials, P.E.J stand for Prada, Emily, Jade as Tiffany had her name as the production company. It is quite colourful and eye catching and here we have used a sans serif font which contrasts the other logo. It adds a sense of informality however, I think it still looks quite professional. 

Second shoot

This time we attempted to film some of Simran's scenes. This shoot went better as we now knew to do more shots so we have a wide range to choose from eliminating the chances of having to reshoot. However the tilt shot we attempted proved very difficult to do as it was hard to do it without the camera shaking. We tried to stabilise it when editing but it still didn't work out very well so we decided to get rid of that shot and think of something different. This is has taught us that what we planned to do might not work so we are going to have to think of different things that can still work within what we want our product to look like.

First shoot

We did this with Shauna and Jack as we wanted to get their scenes done. We got a few good shots and it gave us a good idea about how to film and use the camera effectively. This also gave us the chance to set up the room the way we wanted which meant every other time we filmed we knew how to set everything out. However, we didn't use any of the shots from this shoot as they weren't what we were hoping e.g the actors look at the camera and the camera moves quite a lot in some of the shots, but it has given us a good idea as to what we want to do to acheive our ideas.

Red

After watching sin city, we wanted our film in black and white as that is the main convention of film noir anyway however excluding the colour red. We wanted our antagonists to have something red on them as it connotes danger. We think this will look really good in our title sequence and it can also help our audiences understanding of the characters. However, this has proved very difficult when it has come to editing so we have had to abandon this idea and just have our sequence in black and white.

Progress

A lot of progress had been made since we started the coursework between both me and the project. Individually I have learnt a lot since we have been filming. Its not as easy as I thought it would have been. I've learnt that its always best to take lots of shots of the same scene but with the camera in different places and angles so you have a choice and you can choose which one works best. This can also help with not having to reshoot because for quite a lot of our footage we have had to re film as there has been a problem with it. Timing has also been an issue, as we are filming in school we  have to fit filming in around lessons and after school so its been hard getting the actors and the locations available. However, when we do get our actors and enough time we can manage to film quite a lot. Editing has been quite a big problem, I have found it quite hard personally and it has taken a while for me to understand how to do things. We wanted to create the effect of the footage being in black and white but certain items in red but this has proved very difficult. I have been getting on well with  the group and I feel comfortable putting forward my ideas to them.

The project has made a lot of progress. We have made a lot of changes to it for example the black and white with the red tie has caused quite a lot of problems so we have had to change quite a lot around that. Some shots have proved difficult to do so we have also had to adpat that, tilt shots are very hard when you have to try and keep the camera still. Our narrative has also changed quite a few times as well. Some parts haven't really worked very well as it hasn't always been clear what is going on and we have given away to much just for the opening so we have had to adapt quite a lot to try and fix this problem. We are really having to put a lot of work and effort into our project now as the deadline is next week, we probably should have had more motivation at the start however, we have still got quite a lot done and there are only a few things we have left to add before we have all of our footage.

Locations

These are the locations we are using now as we couldn't get permission to film in any cinemas or theatres.



We are using the school hall as it works well as our theatre setting because it has a stage and curtains that we can use. The scene here is tiffany playing a piano performance including sinister music which will be used as a sound bridge for some of the rest of the film. We can also alter the lighting here which makes it easier to make it black and white when it comes to editing and it looks more like a realistic theatre.

 

We are using the schools chikara centre drama studio to do the majority of the filming. We can create teired seating in there to make the effect of seats in the theatre the only drawback is that we cant have the proper red chairs which would have looked better. They also have good lighting in there and everything is black which makes it look realistic and it adds a sinister effect.

Props List

Prada typed up our prop list.

Costumes 

Jack

• Dark coloured suit
• White shirt
• Red tie
• Smart shoes

Shauna

• Floral dress
• Cream fur coat
• Black kitten heels
• Skin coloured tights

Simran

• Black fur coat
• Red blouse/ top
• Black skirt
• Black tights
• Black high heels

General Props

• Briefcase filled with banknotes
•  Gun/knife
• Fake blood
• Classic red car
• Piano

These props are needed to make our films verisimilitude more effective. We got the majority of props from the drama cupboard at school so there wasn't a wide range of choice however, some clothes used will be what the actors bring themselves so it will be important they look the same for all the shoots we do. We bought the fake blood off the internet and it was worth it because it looks really effective.

Changes to Narrative

Last lesson Jade and Tiffany weren't in and Prada and I discussed a few changes to our storyboard.



Between the first and second shots we are now going to have a shot of Shaunas feet walking and stopping then Jacks feet walking and stoping next to her. Here there is going to be some dialogue between them. Then we are going to film their feet turn and walk towards the doors. We are going to zoom out from their feet to a long shot while they are walking towards the doors. We will then use match in action of them walking into the auditorium with music playing.
Bearing in mind all of these changes need to be discussed with the rest of the group.

Shooting Schedule

This is the schedule we have for when we want to film in our school location. We couldn't get permission to film in any theatres or cinemas so we are now having to film everything in school.

Prada has organised when our actors are free to film and has made a timetable for us to know when we are filming.

Our Film Settings

We were planning on filming in a cinema as thats where our murder is going to take place, however it has been hard to get permisson to film in any cinemas/theatres. We have asked in gerrards cross odeon and the empire in high wycombe which both seem like the most likely places to give us permission.

What we really need are the auditoriums as thats where we will be filming, we wont be showing the outside of the cinemas as we just want the seats inside. We were thinking something like this:

                   

We want to film our characters sitting down in the seats for the beginning so we were thinking something like this. 

Enhanced Storyboard

                                          

Prada has redone our storyboard in more detail, after we had our lesson on storyboarding we decided our original storyboard lacked quite a lot of detail so we decided to redo it and improve it. This shows the shots in more detail and the arrows show which way the camera will be moving.
This is each step of the storyboard explained:

1. Introduction- The logo of our production company (Hoyile Productions) 
2. Footsteps walking along a bright red carpet towards something.
3. Shot of the theatre, with people scattered around; preparing for the movie.
4. A couple in their early 20's sitting down watching the movie.
5. Curtains close for an interval in the play/ movie.
6. The man glances at his watch, realises the time and gets up assuring his girlfriend he'll be right back.
7. Exits the theatre.
8. Woman dressed in red awaiting his in the lobby.
9. They meet and proceed in a silent conversation, including the exchange of money.
10. The man quickly departs, walking towards the electrics supply and turns the theatre lights off.
11. It is pitch black and her scream is heard from his girlfriend.
12. The girlfriends dead body, with banknotes scattered around her covered in blood.
13. The man exits the theatre, whilst wiping a blood covered knife with his pocket square.
14. Enter his car and drives away into the distance.

It is important we have redone it in more detail as now when it comes to filming we will be able to save time as we have already figured out what we are going to do in detail. 

Order of the Opening Credits by Tiffany Leung

In a Motion Picture, television program, or video game, the opening credits are shown at the very beginning and list the most important members of the production. They are now usually shown as text superimposed on a blank screen or static pictures, or sometimes on top of action in the show. There may or may not be accompanying music. Where opening credits are built into a separate sequence of their own, the correct term is title sequence (such as the familiar James Bond).

Common opening order credits:

• (NAME OF THE STUDIO)

Name of the Studio that is distributing the film and may or may not have produced it (Walt Disney Pictures, Columbia, Lions Gate, Universal, Marvel Studios, Dimension, Miramax etc.).

• (NAME OF THE PRODUCTION COMPANY)

Name of the production company that actually made the film or name of the investment groups or companies that financed a substantial part of the film (usually credited as "in association with" or "A (studio name) production.").

• (PRODUCER NAME) PRODUCTION or/and (director only) A FILM BY (DIRECTOR NAME)

• Director's cut  first credit, often "a film by XY or "a XY film".

• STARRING

Principal actors, (Sometimes the stars' and director's credits will be reversed, depending on the star's deal with the studio; sometimes, as in the Rodger;s and Hammerstein films, or as in all three film versions of Show Boat, or, as in many of Disney's films, the title of the film will be shown before the names of its actors; sometimes, as in many of Cannon's films, the name of the principal actor will be shown before the names of the producer, i.e. "The Canon group presents X in a Golan-Globus production of a Y film").

• (FILM'S TITLE)

Name of the film.

• FEATURING

Featured actors

• CASTING or CASTING BY

Casting director.

• MUSIC or MUSIC COMPOSED BY or ORIGINAL SCORE BY

Composer of music.

• PRODUCTION DESIGN or PRODUCTION DESIGNER

This research done by Tiffany is very important to our film making process because when editing our footage we will know what order to put our opening credits in so it looks as professional as possible. We  need to decide now whether we are going to have the credits separate on a blank background or over the top of the footage.

Continuity Task - Final Cut

This is the final cut of our continuity editing task. We have redone the shot reverse shot and we havent broken the 180 degree rule. The editing of this clip could be improved as when we were doing the over the shoulder shot the camera moved so we put a fade in so the jump didn't look so significant however, it still doesn't look very smooth. From doing this task we have learned how important continuity is in a scene and how difficult it is to film and get shots right. We had to film shots multiple times to make sure it looked ok. I think this task has made us realise filming won't be as easy as we might have thought it would have been as it was also hard to get enough footage to fill up the 60 seconds.

Non copyright music

This is a website we can get the non copyright music for our film from:
http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/

We need to work as a group and decided what soundtracks we want to use in our film. It would probably be something from jazz or silent film as they would fit most into our film noir genre.

Our Storyboard

                               

This is the storyboad Prada and Tiffany made. It briefly captures the main scenes we intend to have in our title sequence. However, after our lesson on storyboarding we feel that it needs more detail. It will give us a distinct idea of what happens in the storyline within the two minutes. We have included captions on each box discussing what is happening in the scene. 

1. A couple sitting in a theatre/ cinema, appear to be happily enjoying the movie.
2. The film stop for an interval, at which point the main protagonist excuses himself from the girl.
3. He assures her he will be right back, and exits the theatre into the lobby.
4. There he meets with a glamorous women woman dressed in red. They have a silent discussion, during which she hands him an envelope of money and then departs.
5. The protagonist then goes to the electric supply and turns the theatre lights off.
6. The room is pitch black and a scream is heard from the girl he was sat with.
7. The protagonist is then shown wiping blood off his knife after killing the girl.
8. He briskly departs the building and come across a waterfall where he reminisces memories of him and the girl. 

Storyboarding (Graphic Visualising Process)

Storyboard are graphic organizers in the form of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture,animation, motion graphic,or interactive media sequence.

Why is storyboarding important?
Pitching an idea
Links planning to the filming process
Visualize images and ideas
Visualize links between shots, action/graphic matches (when similar shapes/objects are linked between scenes)
Timings, continutity and pace
Technical awareness and understanding
Revise narrative sequencing
Chance o make desicions and revisions.

Things to include when we make a storyboard:
-number all of the shots as this makes it easier to edit.
-use arrows to show where the camera/character is moving.
-put the estimate of the times of each shot.

Its not advised to use lots of cutting in your filming, you can use the camera to tell the story which adds to the films verisimilitude.
I have also learnt you can film some shots any order which gives you time to plan certain shots. Everything comes togeteher when you edit so it doesnt really matter which order you film the scenes in.

Practising a Dutch Tilt

These are my attempts at a dutch tilt:

This is just a normal straight shot of a candle:

This is the same object using the dutch tilt:

 Other objects I practised the dutch tilt on:

The dutch tilts create a subtle sense of unease which is a good thing for a thriller film. They are a common technique used in Film Noir so it is important we have a good understanding of what it is and how to do it before we go and start filming. 

Our Actors

We are using Shauna, Simran and Jack as our actors.

We have chosen Shauna to feature as the protagonist in our crime thriller, this is because Shauna has a elegant unique look which represents stereotypically white British women in the 1950's. Shauna has features that stand out such as, Blue bold eyes, pale skin and a sweet and innocent look. Shauna suits our target audience of any gender ages 15 years and above.

We have chosen Simran as the role of the tempter to the antagonist. This is because Simran has sharp features such as her eyes, we also thought she would be good at this role because she has great acting skills and seen in our continuity task. We also wanted to show varied ethnicity's in our thriller title sequence.

                                               

We have chose Jack as the Antagonist in our thriller this is because he represents a stereotypical man in the 1950's with blond hair, blue eyes. Jack is additionally white British reflective of out target audience.

Film Noir Makeup and Costume

Prada researched makeup and costume for women during the time era of Film Noir.  By doing this research she particularly noticed a prominent red lipstick which can be considered a convention of the era so I feel that it would be reflective; furthermore increasing the verisimilitude in our piece. There is also a consistent pale skin tone which ultimately compliments the lips and cheeks. She additionally researched costume within the period to also gain an understanding of character appearances. The findings from her research were expected, she noticed a pervading polka-dot and floral print upon frilly dresses. These dresses are very conservative in comparison to modern day fashion maintaining lengths that are no higher than the knee. Our film consists of two female actor with differing personalities. One of the female actors attains a villainous persona therefore we plan on dressing her more formally reinforcing a sense of authority in her. Our other female actor portrays a young, cheerful character therefore we decide to dress her in bright,  florals to emphasise her innocence and youth, encouraging sympathy from the audience when she is murdered later in the film. In order to reflect this particular era we will make our best attempts to incorporate these styles. Despite these being small details in comparison to the overall title sequence I feel it would increase its realism.This is important research as now we know what our actors need to look like for our film to be accurate for the time period. It gives us chance to organise what they will look like before we start filming so everything is ready and we don't waste time sorting out costume and makeup when we could be filming.

Practising different shots and angles

In class Tiffany and I went and practiced different camera angles and shots. We decided it would be a good idea to practice them as we struggled on the different angles and shots when doing our continuity editing task.

Low angled shot:

When the camera looks up at the character which makes them seem more powerful and intimidating. This can be used to make the viewer feel empathy for the anyone facing this character as they would seem vulnerable in comparison.

                                                                High angled shot:

When the camera looks down on the character which makes them look small and vulnerable. These angles are often used to demonstrate to the audience a perspective of a particular character. 

                                                                       Long shot:

This gives the viewer a better idea of the setting. Long shots are used a lot in thrillers to show where the action is going to be taking place.

Extreme close up:

This contains a certain part of a charscters face or a close up of an object. It creates quite an intense atmosphere and creates more interaction between the character and the audience. 

Doing this has given us a better understanding of the angles so when it comes to filming we will have more of an idea of what we are doing. I also know what meanings can be portrayed by these shots. Seeing as we struggled in varying angles in our continuity editing task it has been good practising them again before we go and film our real thing.

Practising making shadows for the Film Noir genre

These are examples of shadows from films with the film noir genre:

This is my attempt at casting shadows:

When you hold the light down  it makes the shadow bigger making the person seem more intimidating.

When you hold the light up it makes the shadow smaller.

Praticing shadows is importany as the are a key feature of film noir. We will have to included shadows to follow the codes and convetions of the genre. It will be quite difficult to create shdows on location I thin because it won't be as easy to create completedarkness and then have a light that we can move around to create effective shadows. The shadows create meaning, there is someone there but it is left up to the viewers imaginations to decide who that person is and what they are going to do which creates suspense in the film. 

Post Production:Editing

Crosscutting (Parrel Editing) - although typically a narrative device, intercutting can set up juxtaposition between parellel story lines, exaggerating the impact or meaning of each by highlighting a point of difference relating to representation.

Intercutting - creates tention. It's used to draw 2 storylines together which an be structured to create tension and heightens the audiences idenifiaction with a particular character.

Reverse shot - one character being shown to talk back to another unseen character.

Cutaway shot - when the scene cuts to another different scene. This is usually followed by it then cutting back to the original scene.

Cut in shot - like a caraway but focuses on some part of the scene in detail before cutting.

Eye line match - when the shot cuts to veiw what the character would be seeing.

Film Noir: Codes and Conventions

They use certain shots to make the viewer feel uncomfotable and to create tension:
-high and low angled shots
-extreme close ups
-refelctions obscured through objects
-dutch tilts:

  This was used a lot in German films of the 1930s and 1940s.
They use everyday locations to make whats happening seem more real. Normally in dodgy areas to normal locations:
-often rainy on damp streets
-low key lighting
-high contrast (dark blacks and whites)
-urban locations

The sound used reflects the sense of foreboding in the films:
-downbeat jazz music
-heavy breathing
-quiet and silence
-discordant/grating music
-sudden noises
-voice over of protagonist

Editing follows many traditional crime characteristics:
-non linear at the start then tells the story in flashbacks
-generally use continuty editing
-jump cuts


It is important we know all of this as we then know what kind of things we need to included in our film to make sure it follows the typical conventions of a film noir. We will have to include some of these things for it to work effectively.

Planning:Mindmap

This is the mindmap Jade and I did when the other 2 members of our group weren't in. We discussed various ideas and there pro's and cons untill we came to a solid conclusion. On the mindmap we have discussed a few different film ideas, the actors we are going to use and locations. One of the ideas we discussed was having the protagonist throw their victim in a lake, however we decided that filming such a scene would be too dificult, so we discussed other ideas. We have settled on creating a storyline that is set in the cinema as we think it will be more appropriate than filming our initial idea that would of been very difficult. From our reserch on the types of thriller we decided on the film noir genre. We decided that a storyline that takes place in a cinema would fit the film noir genre best.