Rough Cut feedback

I showed our Rough Cut to different people and asked for their feedback.

Here is one of the responses I received:

Most of the responses I received were similar to this; overall I had positive feedback, I have been advised to simply speed up the shots and make them more snappy rather than allowing them to go on and on.

ROUGH CUT FINISHED

Rough cut FINITO by meme on GoAnimate

That feeling of accomplishment you get when you finish your rough cut, but then loose when you realise that you still have a long way to go until you're completely finished.

That's how I felt when I finished the rough cut.

Rough Cut

Here is our rough copy

Ident Distribution Blog

Ident Distribution

In order to create an approiate Ident we discussed what we thought would properly illsurate our genre which was Teen Drama , the Ident we have decided as a group to choose is a Ink spillage which will roam around the screen , we felt that is best conveyed our genre as it showed an urban look to our opening , also the fast movements conntate to the reality of the youth of today . As well as this we had to create another Ident that represented our production company which we labeled 'urban motions' we labeled it urban motions because we felt that it would communicate to our viewers the location of our film opening. To do this , we embodied these ideas and used the software Motions to create our Ident . Before using Motions , we watched a tutorial in which we learnt how to navigate our way around using it.

 How to use Motion:


1. Get Project properties correct

Locating properties is simple , Motions opens to an blank black screen in which you can set your Idents on , from this right click on the scrren and then click on Project Properties which allows you to manage your timing spam and also fits your ident to the size required .









2. Choose animation from particle emitters:

 To choose an animation , click on Library , then click Particle Emitters , we will instantly guide you to the different and variety effects which could be used on a Ident .

 3. Sort out its properties(3d):

After placing your choosen Effects for your Ident , you can now using the properties option next to the effect to place where you would want to put it .












 4. Press record
When pressing record , you are recording your ident to be emported to our Opening scene , which is on Final Cut Pro 

How we are going?:

Rough cut of our film opening-Feedback

                              Feedback on our rough cut film opening. 
Throughout the editing process we were able to enquirer about the progress of our film opening from our peers who our film opening is aimed at, as well as our teachers. this we felt was extremely helpful as it allowed us to improve our film opening through final cut pro properly with a better understanding of what we needed to do. Despite the various constructive feedback we received from our target audience, we decided to go to our teacher for her opinion on the work we were doing and this is what she had to say about it:

• we needed to pick up the pace of our editing

• we had too many mid shots as well as long shots and needed to incorporate more close ups of Sanaa  our main character. 

we took on this advice and tried to improve these things as much as we could.  

Feelings about editing

DAY ONE

Even though it has only been one day I feel the editing is going really well and all the things I have learned in previous lessons are really coming in handy. The rules I had learned in class made it easier for me to decide which shots out of all the shots we had filmed fitted best in our opening at different stages.

Editing of Opening Scene

Editing :

Now that we have all our shots and angles imported in Final Cut Pro we can finally start editing our opening scene , here are some videos about our progress :


Blogging Check Up



Making of Ident :



Editing our Opening Scene :

Editing day one

DAY ONE

The first day of editing was used to simply put the clips in order to get a feel of what it will look like once fully trimmed.

I put as many clips as I was able to (within the time frame I had in that day)  in order then made minor trims to some of the clips where I felt necessary, but mainly left the clips long.

Once I put the clips I had on in order, I removed the sound as there was no real need for it and I decided it would be best for me to simply put it back on later and input it in a better way than it was on originally.

reflective blog- acting experience

                                   My experience with acting:

Personally, In the beginning I found acting in our film opening quite unsettling seeing as I have always felt slightly uncomfortable in front of a camera. However, I appreciate the opportunity  I got to act because during the process I was able to become more confident in front of the camera and this allowed me to be more co-operative with my team. It was a really great experience for me in the end as I came out of my shell and was able to contribute in producing what became a great project. I'm glad I got the chance to help in this way as it was really rewarding for me and overall a fun experience.

How I felt my acting went

As being the protagonist Shannon , I had to act out the feelings of my character , as I am doing Drama A Level I found this difficult and straightforward


Difficulties : 
 
As for what I found hard , I had to show the emotions of the characters which revealed that Shannon the character had been bullied and was in a mental state of being unhappy , this proved to be difficult as I was actually very happy that day which proved to be quite a problem . Also , the urge to laugh when being filmed was very hard so it toke some time and different number of shots to catch the real essence of my character .

Straightforward:

Due to doing Drama A Level I found getting into the character quite easy and knew how to show the character in terms of physicality and facial expressions

Reflective Post on Filming

What I enjoyed about filming

What I enjoyed filming our opening scene was that everyone in the group was very determined to make sure that we had good shots, this showed through our dedication, in filming as we all met up early to make sure that we had the whole day to film just in case of any problems that could cause us to stop filming (weather).
I enjoyed experimenting with the camera testing different angles and different shots that we could use in order to make the opening flow. Everyone contributed with ideas of ways to make the filming go better and how we could improve it, we worked well as a team as we all gave each other good feedback as well as improvements which I found was very useful as it saved us more time of having to film. During the day whilst filming we had fun also which made the day go faster and more enjoyable. On the other hand some of the public was very engaged with our filming and wanted to know what our opening was about.

What I felt went well on the day

• Got good shots/angles
• Weather was great
• Good teamwork 

What I feel could be improved 

What I feel we could improve would be to make sure that the camera was in a good angle as most occasions the road was uneven which affected our filming as the tripod would be uneven making our shots look wonky leading us to go back and re doing shots which was time wasting. This could be resolved next time we film by making sure that we film on a soft surface so we are able to get a good angle when filming.

Feelings and frustrations during Filming

On the first day of filming I felt quite tired and a little annoyed as it had been an early start during my holiday especially since I live over an hour away from the first location, which due to the distance meant I had to get up and leave even earlier.

Upon reaching location and setting up I felt wide awake and ready to go; the frustrations of the morning long forgotten. Throughout the day filming had gone smoothly with no diva behaviour from anyone neither actor nor crew which had been a real achievement as you would expect at least one moment of angry feelings being expressed but there hadn't even been one.

I felt day one had gone very well as we got a lot done in a short amount of time. We also had fun while doing it as well which is a bonus.

Day Two- Filming

                                           Day Two-Filming

                             Location: Li's House, Alleyway

                             Time:10:00-17:00pm
                          Filmmaker: Li, Ornela, Ebony
                          Characters: Sanaa,Ebony,Li
                           Props used: School Books
                           Clothing: School Uniform

Improvemnets to be made if we could film again: We would make sure that we find a suitable location where less memebers of the as in some scenes we were disrupted by members of the public going around which disrupted our filming during the day.

Scenes throughout the day

                                                     NEW GIRL (Day 2) - slideshow

Day One-Filming

                                                         Day One- Filming 

Location : Ornela's House 

Time: 10.30- 4.00pm  

Filmmakers::Li, Ornela

Character: Sanaa 

Props used: Alarm Clock,Clock,Kettle,Letter

Clothing:School Uniform

These props were used as we wanted to adapt the concept of a typical teenager and the normal surroundings found in a house, each prop played a major part in the film opening especially the letter as this establishes the scene and sets the rest of the scene allowing to know what the opening will be about. 

Alarm Clock: We used the alarm clock when filming as this is a concept in which most people use daily to wake them up so by using the alarm clock it sets the regulation of the day.

Clock: The clock is being used to show the difference in time as the day goes as we see the opening is showing different stages in how the character gets ready to start their new school so by using the clock we can see the timing of the scenes 

Improvements to be made if we could film again: We felt that our filming went smoothly but if we could improve anything we would make sure that we get others involved in the scene to make the scenery look like a typical home of a school girl, 

                                                  

 

 

 

Why Black was chosen as the main colour for costume

Why Black you ask by meme on GoAnimate

Character Inspirations

Here are the inspirations behind the three main characters.

Prezi of our overall pitch

Pitch - Audience Detail

We realised that a Teen drama would be most fitting for our project as our intended target audience is not only 15- 18 year olds, but also anyone of any age that enjoys urban dramas and also school based movies.
We felt as though we would be able to connect with these audiences on a personal level as our film opening will begin to explore the harsh reality of settling into a new environment as a teenager in an urban area of London.

Pitch-Institutional Detail

                                               Institutional detail:

We decided that the UK film council would be the company to produce our film, this is because they have a wide range of experience in producing British independent movies as well as major box office movies. some of the films they have produced include: Kidult hood, Attack the block, Fish tank, The iron lady and The Duchess (which starred keira Knightley). We also figured that seeing as our film would be a British independent movie, the UK film council would be the best company for us to enquire after as they encourage independent film makers to come forward. We also felt that this would be the most effective company for us to use as coincidentally most of the films we have drawn inspiration from are movies they have produced and so it would a more productive company for us to go to.
Their website:  http://industry.bfi.org.uk/
Here we researched their box office figures and the contributions they have made to the film industry which was really insightful and detailed.
As for distribution and editing, the fact that we have chosen this company will increase the chances of those points being a success, as they will be able to contact other highly relevant companies to back us. As well as this, the editing will be of the highest quality as they will have the equipment and professionals needed In order for it to look legit.

Framing

From watching the framing tutorial on how to make angles/shots better it has enabled me to reflect on my filming and how I can use the different techniques shown to me to help me better my film opening

From the tutorial we learnt of different angles

• Cut Aways
• Match Cut
• The Third Rule 
• Pan and Tilt 
• Eye Level
• Close Ups 

Cut Away-  A cut away shot is when a camera is taken away from the centre of the scene to another scene in order to change the scenery, introduce a new character this can be very helpful when were filming our opening scene as it will allow us to use cut away to introduce new characters in our opening. 

Eye Level- Camera are usually put at eye level in order to show a close up of the characters face can be to shown their emotion or to shown vulnerability in some cases. This would be beneficial in using for our opening scene as we have based our topic on the theme of bullying so by having the camera on eye level of the character we are able to sense vulnerability which fits in as the sense of being vulnerable is common when being bullied. 

The Rule Of Thirds- The Rule Of Thirds is a technique that is used in TV Drama's and soaps in order to give them a seamless effect which places the character in a certain position as the camera is shown to be divided into three sections 

Framing

FRAMING

During the lesson I learned the rules of camera 

shots and the do's and don't of filming.

In my opinion the most important things I learnt during this task:  

• The rule of thirds,                                         
• close up shots work the best,  this is emphasized through                                                                 the images in the screen shot above.                                                                                               The wide shots and medium shots are just fillers for the close ups                                                 which show the most detail and capture the moment the best.

Pitch - Skills audit to date

Throughout our project we have come into contact with various types of technology and software. it has been really interesting and beneficial for us to have experienced these things as it has increased our knowledge about the different roles media plays in society today. Learning about and using these items has also enabled us to become more independent when working because we have been able to explore and apply the technology to our work as a group.

The equipment we will use for this project is really important as this is where all our footage will be stored and transferred through ,for editing purposes. The main piece of equipment we will be using is a canon camera to film our opening, this is because of its high quality and it's variety of functions. we will be using a few other pieces of equipment that will assist us in creating and finalising our project. Software is also an important aspect overall as we will be using programmes such as 'final cut pro' to edit our film opening, we are using this programme because it is reliable and it's purpose is to allow people to transfer footage onto it and edit, process and output it into a wide variety of formats which proves to be useful as we are constantly finding new ways and programmes that will showcase the work we do.

Collectively we have realised that blogging has been the main source for us to publicise our knowledge on the things we learn in media. And as a group we realise that although the information we produce on our blogs needs to be accurate and insightful (showing our own understanding), the aesthetics of it needs to be more present, as a blog should be visually informative, this is effective as it is interesting for our viewers/readers to look at and it poses a new way for others to learn as it isn't conventionally presented.

Pitch - Risk Assessment

When filming to keep us and the equipment we decided to look at the risks possible and ways to prevent the hazards and accidents from happening .

Scene/Location : Estate

Hazard : Cars and Others in estate , also inside estate (  Balcony )
Risk Rating : High
To Prevent Risk : Check if the ground is suitable for a tripod to be placed on  work together as a group to supervise the equipment
Make sure equipment is supervised at all times

Scene/Locations : Road ( Street)
Hazard: Cars on road , also the area located in
Risk Rating : Medium
To Prevent Risk : Use a road which is mostly empty during the hours of the day ; also check once again if ground and area is suitable for filming and placing objects on .

Scene/Location : School
Hazards : Space issues and grounding of the park , also isn't a lot of people around
Risk Rating : Medium
To Prevent Risk : Use area of school with a spacious area ,Always keep an eye for the equipment

Pitch - Production Schedule

To help us use our time efficiently and effectively , we decided to us Time Toast to produce a production schedule , this helping us know when and what to do .

Pitch - Sound Ideas

When looking at Creative Common , we as a group realised that due to the numbers of copyright free soundtracks we could possibly use some for our own opening scene



Tracks :

1) Emotional music 

This music idea is quite emotional , which also includes some Foley sounds such as Doors , also clattering sounds , this suggesting a atmosphere and feelings of sadness or chaos this would bee good for a opening scene of a Teen Drama , this giving us the idea of a similar opening to Fish Tank 



2) Upbeat music :
This music could suggest films such as teen comedy's or chick flicks , this would be good for a opening scene as it can show already the kind of film genre that the film could be , and also suggests what type of atmosphere surrounds the narrative.



3) Orchestra music :
This would be good for an film genre of action or drama , due to the build up of climaxes which creates a suspense , reflecting the action and also maybe tension and excitement of the rest of the film.

framing...

                                                      Framing: 

There are plenty of things that need to be considered when filming. 
Here is a list of some of the most important things to look out for: 

• rule of thirds: 

This is when you place the action taking place within the frame correctly using a grid to ensure that the action happening takes place on at least one of these lines formed in the grid. 

• Leave no head space:

In every film you see you will notice that there is never too much head space left above the actors heads, this is because when too much space is left it takes away the viewers attention from the action happening in the scene. it also looks highly unprofessional. 

• have your actors walk in and out of the frame:

when the actors walk in and out of the frame it gives the editors freedom to cut the scene to wherever they want to place the next scene, it also makes the scene flow better as it promotes continuity.

• shoot at eye level/high angles and low angles:

with these shot types you can capture ideas of who the dominant character is in that scene as well as the lesser characters. As well as this, it allows you to focus on  a certain person or event as the camera is fixed in a certain way displaying a specific idea/scene. 

Framing

After watching a tutorial about how to frame well and get the best out of filming different scenes , I have learnt a lot of ways to make my filming the best it can be . The tutorial ran through numerous of ideas and techniques that would improve the visual aspect of filming :

Pitch - Costumes and Props

Costume:

Urban school uniform consisting of some or all of the items below:

• Black skirt/ trousers
• white skirt
• Hooded jumper
• trainers/school shoes
• tie

we chose these items due to that fact that they do not represent a  real school but can still be identified as school uniform.
Also a vast amount of students (not only those who reside in urban areas)  do not wear their uniform to regulation until they actually enter their school environment, therefore the way in which we have chosen wear it portrays this.


(possible) Key Features:

• Bag
• Books
• Kettle
• Door
• Stairs
• Lip gloss / mirror

Camera Tutorial

Camera Tutorial

We had our camera tutorial which was very informative as Mickey the technician gave us lots of useful tips about how to film. He told us what we should do and not do and also what we should look out for while filming. Even though as a group we have filmed before it was essential in learning new tips but also refreshing our memories about ones we learnt a few months ago. Many issues seemed like a common mistake many people could make which could make the footage look less . We watched examples of videos after every tip which was useful as we could see what was happening.

Pitch- Storyboard

In order to film , we had a discussing on the different shots that we would use , focusing on what emotions and feelings we wanted to convey Sanaa to portray as the main character Shannon , after this to make filming as efficient as possible we decided to make a storyboard outlining our different shots and camera movements so we know as a group how are opening is going to run .

Pitch - Planned Location

Locations :

 When thinking about what kind of locations we could use for our opening scene , we had a discussing thinking about different types of locations that could meet our initials idea of a Teen Drama :

•School
•Estate
•Balcony
•Homes ( Flats)

After reviewing back our ideas of a Fish Tank /St Trinians inspired film ,we decided that School , estate and Homes would be the best way to represent our Teen Drama opening .

School :
 We have decided to use a school to film part of the opening of the film ; as for the school we choose a old rural school which we though best represented a deprived area .


Estate:
The use of estate will help present our film as a british urban drama as it is associated with those who are culturally and material deprived , also estate's are usually considered to be areas which are used to trouble
 

Pitch - Sub-Genre

Our film sub genre will be teen drama this is because we felt that through a teen drama we will be able to relate to our target audience as this will enable us to touch on subjects pertaining to the everyday lives of teenagers today. We explored various types of sub genres that we felt would fit with our opening such as:

•Comedy film ( White Chicks)
•British drama film (Fish Tank)
•Crime comedy ( St Trinian's)
•Action film (Fast ad Furious)

Films that have inspired us for our opening

St Trinian's :

 From St Trinian's we will be adapting the common British school concept as in the movie we see that the location is a British private school located in a rich area of London, from this we will be getting the school concept as we will be filming outside a school in London, this will help us when coming to filming as we will be able to use similar objects from the St Trinians movie.








Fish Tank :

We are basing our opening on the Fish Tank where we see a normal girl living in a estate in the middle of London, trying to fit in a certain friendship group we will use this as our setting is going to be based in an estate in London which is comparison with the Fish Tank movie.  

Fast and Furious :

From fast and furious I will be adapting the opening title as we see that in the opening of Fast and Furious the scenes are mixed with the titles which makes the opening look more engaging and wasn't us to watch more we will adapt this technique to our opening to make it more engaging.

The Title of Our Opening Scene and Treament

 Title of opening scene :

"NEW GIRL On The Block"

After discussing our initial ideas our film , we came up with the name 'New Girl On The Block' as this would follow a character who was new to her surroundings.

The Treament :

Our film opening will be about a teenage girl Shannon ,who is new to the area and is trying to fit into her new surroundings. However she has a hard time doing so as two girls are persistent in prohibiting her from fitting in , this also being the reason why she has moved before .

If this were to be presented as a full movie we would showcase the ideas of friendship, heart break, aspirations and social challenges. The way in which we would show these ideas is through the characters journeys throughout the movie, as they would have gotten into certain situations that would show any one of the previously mentioned ideas. For example we composed a mock scene where the main character and her enemy become friends over a period of time whilst spending a certain amount of time together in detention. Within our film opening, we will show the main character about to experience  her first day at a new school however before she arrives at her new school 'Shannon' gets flash backs of the bullying she encountered whilst at her old school, this later shows her journey to school, as well as incorporating the things she sees on her way there such as the two girls who she later has conflict with.