22-03-13 Serena and Tina Completion !

Today we completed our sequence, it felt great because we are very happy with our sequence and there is not much we thought we could have done to improve our sequence. The music went well, the titles fitted the genre. The editing got quiet fasted paced towards the end.

Audience Feedback Serena And Tina

Today we showed our newly edited opening sequence to a few people
Mostly all of the feedback was good some of the comments were -

- The narrative all makes sense
- It is interesting especially the whole idea of the antidote being put in the brief case
- The way it ends with a bang! it would make you want to keep watching to see what will happen next.
- The cuts are tight and look good
- The angles are interesting like the close up of the bottle as Tina is looking at it
- The music is tense and sounds dark mainly at the start

Some improvements that could be made are

- To make the music slightly more tense when Theo is walking

Risk Assessment filming 15-03-13

Chemicals - Tina the actress wore gloves and an apron, to keep her hand and clothes safe as the chemical was an irritant.

Large Glass tube - It was used as a prop to help the scene look as scientific as possible, we made sure that it wasn't near the chemicals or the plug.

Skeleton - As it was large it could of fallen down on someone, so we made sure that the action in the scene wasn't near enough to Tina so she could actually touch it/ knock it over.

Plugs - We made sure that they were switch and no water/chemicals were near them.

Gas taps - We made sure that they were switched off by checking the tap and listening for gas.

Shooting schedule

Story Board for our final idea

This is our final story board

Discussion during filming

Filming Diary 14-03-13

Re-shot list

Props - Lab shots Serena and Tina

We have thought carefully about what props Tina and I could use in the science scene and here we have come up with a list

28-02-13 progress

Today we again made another plan of action because we thought that the first one Tina made was very useful

Blue- Filming schedule: We organised at least  days of filming that we could all attend to

Monday 4th Mar: Filming
Tuesday 5th Mar Filming
Wednesday 6th Mar
Thursday 7th Mar: Filming
Friday 8th Mar

Green- Reshooting: We decided that the following need to be reshot

Tina and I were going to reshot the labs shots again because we werent happy with the other reshoot

Red-Blog: We are behind on updating our group blog. though we need to upload stuff on characters and props

Yellow-Title:  We have decided to name our movie bacterium as we have all agreed that it fits best with our movie and we have began to think about titles, using the colour green.

Orange-Sound: This is unfinished but we began to discuss the sound that would be used. Serena and I will begin to compose the music towards the end of the editing process. The other half of the group decided that it would be best to use a quiet instrumental music for the science scene. We also decided that we will experiment with synth, drums and symbol to create a mysterious effect.

15-02-13 group progress

So this week all of our macs and equipment were stolen meaning that we had lost our first draft of our edited sequence. so today we mainly focused on thoughts about re-filming some of our lab shots with Tina and Theo and we mainly thought about we props and costumes we would need and also how we could make it more interesting than the first time we filmed it.

Pre Production

Today I managed to complete the storyboard for our opening sequence and am in the process of creating the costume list, location list and props list, as well as a list of potential cast and crew, and I am also devising the risk assessment for our group. I hope to create a focus group and some questionnaires as soon as possible, of which the focus group shall be videoed (with their permission), and then uploaded to this blog and my group blog, as well as our production meeting footage.

Audience Research

From our research (both online and through asking people), we have found that the target audience of our chosen genre (action/ thriller) depends on what type of action film it is, and how much of a role the thriller component plays. Action films like Mission Impossible III and The Matrix are aimed at a slightly older audience, from the ages of about 22 and up, and more towards the male population -- with the extensive action sequences, male protagonists, scenes of mild and intense violence etc.
Generally, most other action films are geared towards the young male adolescent age group, because, younger males tend to like action films more than their female counterparts. Just like Romance films are geared towards women because they react to romance better than men do.

Many hybrid thriller films target an age group of between 16 and 25 years old. Thriller audiences consist more of a male skew, but this differs with hybrid genres. Horror thrillers, action thrillers and political thrillers such as 'Enemy of the state and Déjà Vu (2006)' have a male skew. This is because men are drawn into films with more action, more so than women. Horror and action thrillers have a younger audience of 16-25, as they are more exciting for this age group.

Genre: Reasarch into the codes and conventions of our chosen genre

Our Chosen Genre Is Action Thriller.

The certificate of action films usually ranges between certificate 12 and certificate 18, with the aim of maximising youth audiences as much as possible. The action genre is often hybridised with Sci Fi, Adventure, and Thriller Genres, some of which work fairly well (V For Vendetta, is an example of this. the fusion of the two genre's is almost faultless in this film), and some don’t.
Major studios usually produce and distribute action films, and often most of the action hybrid genres of film. These types of films almost always have high production values including CGI effects. The editing of these types of films is generally fast paced, to re-enforce the sense of action. Action films generally have a predictable chain of events – cause and effect, however with the inclusion of thriller, these predictable events can become more spontaneous, adding to the structure of the film. A single stranded, linear, closed narrative is mostly used, where the protagonist is effected by the actions of the antagonist, usually there is a main fight scene towards the end of the film, at which point order is restored, or justice is served.
Most of the non-diegetic sound used in the film is dramatic, and kind of separates the film from the real world, but not so much as to suggest it be a SCI-Fi or Fantasy film, as it still retains most of the elements of a real life situation, but is generally exaggerated quite a bit.
More narrative action codes than enigma codes are used.
Star Marketing: Audience identification/expectations (Cruise/ Pitt/ Willis/ Jolie/ Stallone/ Craig/ Schwarzenegger etc. 

Romantic sub-plot, Humorous dialogue
Relationships with new technology, which would appeal to the lower end of the target audience - youth audiences.

Use of close up/Insert shots/High Key Lighting
Dominant representation of gender: male/female action hero.

Today we filmed our Establishing Shot.

05-02-13 group update

So now we have again looked over the shots with the teacher and we have decided that actually the angles aren't as bad as when we first looked at them, we asked a couple of our peers and they said that it looks kind of like he is trying to hide something because we can't see the whole of his facial expression.

Filming Diary 01-02-13

Audience feedback Serena and Tina

 

Today we received our first lot of feedback from our peers, firstly we cut out Theo's dialogue on the phone because we were told that it was hard to hear/understand what he was saying, overall we thought it wasn't necessary. We re-filmed the lab scenes to make  the narrative easier to understand. We used more lighting in the lab scenes. When we do the sound we will add a phone sound just at the end of the establishing shot, making a sound bridge. To make the scene of Theo walking at the end seem less like it is dragging on/too long we will put some credit there so we can direct the audiences attention as nothing major is happening. 

Shooting, Planning

Today we have filmed the establishing shot of our opening sequence and we are planning to film more after school in kingston.

Group update 24-01-13

Today we began to decide which shots to keep and which weren't very good and what we could consider re-filming, for example some of the shots with the teacher weren't filmed at the right angle.

Filming Diary 23-01-13

Filming Diary Kingston 22-01-13

Costumes Serena And Tina

So we have decided that we are gong to have 4 characters

Theo - person who helps the scientist but also transports the brief case
He will therefore need a lab coat, gloves and goggles for the first couple of scenes
And need some sort of dark coat and trousers for the second couple of scenes which will be shot in Kingston

Tina - Scientist
She will just need to be wearing a white lab coat goggles and gloves

Mat - Man who takes the brief case
He will be wearing a dark hooded jacket and trousers to show the significance of the enigma

Mr Magnoff- The boss
He will be wearing a suit to show his importance

We will be using stereo types in our opening sequence because it is important that the audience can recognise the different people and there roles and then further on in the movie we can show off other non-stereotypical traits of the character to make them more interesting.

Risk Assesment Filming in Kingston

The camera being stolen - Firstly someone will be with the camera at all times and always keep an eye on it, also we will be very careful to keep it near to us at all times

Bike Riders - we will make sure that we aren't on a cycle path and we will always be vigilant

Rain - we will bring an umbrella and if it starts to rain we an find somewhere under cover where we can film so that the camera doesn't get wet

The river - we will make sure that we are not near the river when filming also that we are not walking backwards when filming someone so we don't know where we are going,

Filming on some Else's property - we will try and film in the less busier areas of Kingston like not near the shops and just by public areas

Main Piece Storyline Version 2

Roles

-Leader of the organisation
-Driver
-Henchmen Boss
-Henchman 1
-Henchman 2
-Guy watching the scientists
-Scientist 1
-Scientist 2


[Storyline]

-inside a science laboratory, three scientists are working on a special formula
{wearing lab coats and lab goggles}

-scientist 1 writes up some calculations before saying  "I think I've cracked it"

-retrieves a vial of black liquid from a the store room and adds a drop to the main formula vial.

-formula is finished.

-sound of a car pulling up outside the laboratory causes the scientists to get into a panic

-scientists carefully put it into 3 vials and put those into a foam lined briefcase.

-close up of man getting out of car outside lab [close up of door opening, and feet hitting the floor]

-scientist 1 hands the guy the briefcase.

-exits via the rear of the building with the briefcase, leaving the scientists in the lab.

-shots of the guy walking calmly away from the building.

-cut away to the lab where two men proceed to detain the two scientists.
 a third man enters the building and says to the scientists  "where is it"

-one of the scientists replies  "its gone"

-third man whips out his mobile phone [with credits on screen]

-calls a number and says  "its not here"

-cut away to guy on other end of phone (boss)  "well...you had better find it"  [shot of only the lower quarter of face and mobile phone]

-cut back to the lab. third man says "lets go. bring one with you, deal with the other" put potato sack on the first scientist head,
 take him outside, and put him in the back of the car, then go back into the lab, shoot the other scientist
 then return to the car, and proceed to drive away.

-camera behind car as it turns the corner

-match on action of the briefcase guy coming round the corner [front view]

-fade back into the scientist walking down a street, mid-afternoon/ evening, with the briefcase in hand

-proceeds to turn down an alleyway and walks a few meters,
 at which point he looks behind him and sees the silhouette of a man in a hat behind him.

-he turns his head back and sees the silhouette of another man in a hat  {so he is effectively trapped}.

-he stops and begins to asses his options, at which point the two men begin to walk towards him.

-the scientist begins to panic, and drops the briefcase onto the floor, revealing the three vials.

-the men in suits and hats increase their pace towards the scientist as he desperately tries to pick up the vials
 and place them back into the briefcase.

-final shot. an Ariel view of the two men in suits on either side of the scientist [one in front, one behind].

Main Piece Version 1

[Tina's slow motion bullet idea]

-film title on side of bullet.

-shot of doctor falling to the floor [he has just been shot]

-cut to an extreme close up of doctors lifeless eyes.

[rewind all of our footage to the beginning of the story]

[the beginning of the story]
-inside a science laboratory, three scientists are working on a special formula
{wearing lab coats and lab goggles}

-scientist 1 writes up some calculations before saying  "I think I've cracked it"

-retrieves a vial of black liquid from a the store room and adds a drop to the main formula vial.

-formula is finished.

-sound of a car pulling up outside the laboratory causes the scientists to get into a panic

-scientists carefully put it into 3 vials and put those into a foam lined briefcase.

-close up of man getting out of car outside lab [close up of door opening, and feet hitting the floor]

-scientist 1 removes lab coat and goggles and gets his own coat and hat on

-exits via the rear of the building with the briefcase, leaving scientists 2 and 3 in the lab.

-shots of scientist 1 walking calmly away from the building.

-cut away to the lab where four men proceed to detain the two scientists.
 a fifth man enters the building and says to the scientists  "where is it"

-one of the scientists replies  "its gone"

-fifth man whips out his mobile phone [with credits on screen]

-calls a number and says  "I need you to find someone"

-cut away to guy on other end of phone  "consider it...done"  [shot of only the lower quarter of face and mobile phone]

- cut back to the lab. fifth man says "lets go. bring them with you"  put potato sacks on the scientists heads,
take them outside, and put one in the back of each car, then proceed to drive away.

-fade to black

-fade back into the scientist walking down a street, mid-afternoon/ evening, with the briefcase in hand

-proceeds to turn down an alleyway and walks a few meters,
 at which point he looks behind him and sees the silhouette of a man in a hat behind him.

-he turns his head back and sees the silhouette of another man in a hat  {so he is effectively trapped}.

-he stops and begins to asses his options, at which point the two men begin to walk towards him.

-the scientist begins to panic, and drops the briefcase onto the floor, revealing the three vials.

-the men in suits and hats increase their pace towards the scientist as he desperately tries to pick up the vials
 and place them back into the briefcase.


-final shot. an Ariel view of the two men in suits on either side of the scientist [one in front, one behind].