The End

This blog is now complete; we made it, kids.

Evaluation- Question 7

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression form it to the full product?

Evaluation- Question 6

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing your product?

Evaluation- Question 4 + 5

Who would be the audience for your media product? How did you attract/ address your audience?

Evaluation- Question 3

What kind of institution would be likely to distribute your product? 

Evaluation- Question 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Evaluation- Question 1

How does your product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Evaluation 7- Script

Since our preliminary task in September, we have improved our skills in various areas of media from filming and editing, to organisation and time management.

The first major improvement was the camerawork included in our final film. Our earlier work consisted of very basic shot types, such as mid shots and close ups, whereas we utilised more impressive shots, such as money and low angle for our final product. Our camera movements also improved, becoming much smoother and more steady than those of our preliminary task. Over the year, I have become a lot more aware of impressive shots and movements and actively look out for them when consuming media products. A particular style which I would love to explore, is the use of long takes, capturing all of the scene in a smooth, uninterrupted shot- a technique continually employed by Damien Chazelle in the musical numbers of La La Land. 

Editing skills were another part of media which we really developed, by becoming much more aware of techniques such as match on action and sequencing. When creating our storyboards we were much less familiar of the types of shots which work well in a sequence, however at the time of which we started filming, our knowledge had dramatically increased, and were able to make decisions and change shot types without hesitation. This ultimately allowed for us to work quicker as we could eliminate shots that wouldn't work without the need for re-shooting.

As for our time management, we took considerably longer than other groups to complete our filming. However,  we got into the habit of creating shooting schedules and pre-planning what we would do on each day. Unfortunately, we only started using plans halfway through filming, and arguably, we could've been much more time efficient had we carried this out from the start.  In our preliminary, time management wasn't really an issue, as it was a much shorter task so could all be done in one afternoon. Creating schedules and working to a plan is something we can utilise in A2, when creating our music videos. 

Evaluation 6- Script

Over the course of the year we discovered a lot about different technologies, from pre-production to post production. 

During our preliminary task, we used a Panasonic HDC-SD90 to film, and used editing software iMovie 9 to edit. Through GCSE Media, I used Adobe Premiere Pro, so our prelim proved useful as it allowed for us to get comfortable with using a different software, and aware of it's various features, before editing our final film. 

Before filming began, we created a storyboard animation, as a way of getting an idea of what our final product may look like, if the storyboard is followed. To create this, we used editing app CuteCutPRO for iPad, rather that iMovie in school. By using this technology we were able to again further our editing skills and learn to adapt our skills to various software, rather then becoming familiar only with iMovie.

However for our final film, we did use iMovie as it allows us to use much more advanced features than Premiere Pro or CuteCut. A particular advantage to this software was the superior features of sound editing, which allowed for us to test out a multitude of sound effects in order to find the desired one, and alter the fading in and out to become more gradual. As well as this, the ability to layer sounds was exceptionally useful, as our opening features music alongisde diegetic sounds from the room, and we were able to easily adjust the volume of clips for both to be heard. 

Throughout filming, we relied heavily on Apple products, and their ability to efficiently share files between themselves. During the first day of filming,  we made the decision to film entirely on an iPhone 6, rather than the Panasonic HDC-SD90 from the prelim. This decision stemmed from the fact that the camera was not picking up the shots of the text messages very well, as this was vital to the plot line, we deemed it imperative that the were easily seen. By using an iPhone we were able to use Rachel's MacBook Pro to review our footage, and created our own personal 'video village'. Synchronisation between the phone and the mac allowed for us to back up our footage, as we dismissed the use of an SD card after deciding to not use the camera. 

An attribute from Apple which we utilised was 'Airdrop', a feature that allows for iOS and mac devices to instantly share selected files wirelessly, rather than waiting for devices to sync. We'd never used this feature before, and discovered it when transferring a post-production feedback video from an iPhone to an iMac without access to a wire.

Evaluation 4/5- Script

The target audience for UFO is children between the ages of 8 and 14, and would therefore have a certification of a PG upon distribution. We asked members of the audience from the showcase evening the rating they think would be suitable, and the results came back as 5/7 suggestions for a rating of PG, whilst the other 2 argued for a 12.

According to the British Board of Film Classification, PG rated films "should not unsettle a child aged around eight or older", and should be given consideration by parents before being shown to anyone younger. The BBFC lays out a set of guidelines and regulations regarding topics such as drugs, violence, language and other behaviours and how they must be presented in each certification. By comparing the across the different ratings, we can argue that our film would fall under a PG, as there would be no content of which would order a rating of a 12/12A.

As the nature of the plot revolves heavily around UFOs, it could be argued that younger children may be affected by it; however, we do believe that those over the age of 8 would not be distressed, and would understand the plot line.

In order to ensure our film would appeal to our intended audience, we asked 20 people of ages 8-14 what their preferred genre of film was. The results were conclusive as comedy being the most popular genre, with sci-fi and rom-coms also receiving high numbers of votes. Horror films however, were massively unapproved of and received only 1 vote.

The content of our product was also important when addressing the needs of our audience. As comedy was favoured, our main aim was to make the story lighthearted, achieved by the use of our clumsy character. It was also imperative that we avoided any frightening content, as to not harm our audience, and keep it within the limitations of a PG rated film. Another feature common to PG films is the use of an older character, particularly seen in the works Disney. As our target audience is likely to be impressionable, it was important the protagonist was a friendly, likeable character, and someone who could be seen as a role model, in order to adhere to the BBFC guidelines of  imitable behaviour. The use of an upbeat, happy song was also employed to appeal to our marketed, by immediately bringing  a youthful feel to the opening, engaging with the interests of our intended audience.

Evaluation 3- Script

Media products, such as films and television programmes, can be distributed by independent distributors, or distribution subsidiaries of large conglomerates.

By looking at the genre, plot and audience of some already established media products, I have been able to determine which type of institution would be best to distribute UFO.

The following films are somehow similar to ours, and have been distributed by some of the largest names in film, including Universal and Disney. From these examples it could be argued that UFO would be best suited to conglomerate distribution.

As the target audience for our film is 8-14 year olds, well known names in the media industry would be best to distribute our product. Indie films tend to be aimed towards older audiences, whilst large conglomerates are seen as trusted and recognised by parents, and therefore perform better in the market of kids films, as proved by high grossers 'Beauty and The Beast' and 'Shrek 2'.

Evaluation 2- Script

Our product represents the social groups of teenagers, geeks and nerds.

Typically teenagers are portrayed in a negative light with common stereotypes being that they are lazy, rebellious, antisocial, rude or disrespectful. In UFO we have challenged his representation by showing our main character to be adventurous, intelligent, sociable and passionate about what he loves. In some ways our protagonist could be seen as antisocial, given that he spends a lot of time alone in his garage turned den, but this is out of determination to alien hunting, rather than wanting to be alone.

Although we mainly challenged the representation of teenagers, our protagonist conforms to many of the stereotypes of a geek or nerd. They are often seen to be intelligent, with a particular interest in maths or science; fans or Star Wars and Doctor Who; and technologically minded- all of which are displayed through our opening.

Our unique way of presenting our titles represents how our character could be seen as 'different' from other teenagers; something that was picked up on by a member of the audience at the showcase evening, who's feedback mentioned how the "creative ways of introducing names fit the whole nerdy style".

Evaluation 1- Script

Our opening to UFO uses, develops and challenges many forms and conventions of real media products, particularly through factors such as titles, sound and genre.

By opening with a title sequence, we automatically conform to a convention as the vast majority of films feature opening titles. However, the way in which we have presented our titles develops upon the generic form, as we have opted for a more creative style, similar to that of the 2004 comedy Napoleon Dynamite. Our titles were too placed on various objects around the room, and shown when the protagonist approached or interacted with the object, Through these factors, we really developed the convention of title sequences, which typically see names and roles typed and laid over a shot. As well as developing the titles, we also challenged the order in which they tend to appear, and the length of time for which they are shown for, in order to fit with the verisimilitude, and the idea that they are being shown whilst in use by the protagonist.

The use of music throughout an opening is a trait seen in  a large number of films and, although we followed this convention, our music was diegetic, rather than conforming to the typical use of non-diegetic sound. Whilst we developed the type of sound used, we challenged the conventions of diegetic sound towards the end of the opening- after our character takes off his headphones for the sound to lower, we allowed for it to gradually get louder as the action takes place, in order for the sense of rush and urgency to be presented to the audience. Another feature we considered was the absence of dialogue, a convention commonly explored in modern cinema. As only one character is met in our opening, we decided on excluding the use of any dialogue, conforming to the modern convention. However, we did develop this and used text messages, rather than conversation, as a way of communication to introduce a second character, and give more depth to the plot.

Our use of bright colours, highkey lighting and a clumsy character followed the typical forms and conventions associated with a comedy. Feedback from members of the audience at the showcase evening suggests that the music, mise-en-scene, editing, and actor were all effective in creating a product of the comedy genre, largely due to conforming to the relative conventions.

Evaluations: Plans

Here are the plans of what I will include in each evaluation:

Costume

Through costume, we feel like we managed to put across the idea of the type of character Elliott is. We wanted him to conform to the stereotypical 'nerd', which is implied through the thick rimmed glasses held together with masking tape, and the Star Wars top. The alien clearly drawn onto the helmet shows his quirky, creative side, and also that the character is fun. Finally, by wearing casual jeans and trainers we were able to present how he is quite a laid back, chilled character, rather than a serious individual.

Casting and Character Profile

When we planned our opening, we hadn't yet decided who was going to play our protagonist, but we knew we wanted our character to be male and roughly 16 years old. Our friend Catherine attends a theatre group and asked a friend of hers, who myself and Rachel know from our secondary school, if he'd be willing to participate. He happily obliged, and undertook the role of 'Elliott'.

Casting:
Name: Ted Russell
Age: 16 (at the start of filming)
Picture:

Character:
Name: Elliott
Age: 16
Interests: Space, Aliens, Science

Potential Certificate Rating

According the the British Board of Film Classification, all films and video works must be given a age certificate in order to protect children from any harm or offence. When awarding a restriction to a product, issues such as drugs, violence, sex/nudity, discrimination, imitable behaviour and language, along with the theme and tone of the film, are all taken into consideration, and a rating is consequently applied. The seven possible ratings range from U, which are generally suitable for all audiences, to R18, of which films are restricted to distribution in specially licensed cinemas and sex shops.

We asked some of the members of the audience from the showcase evening what rating they would give our film based on the first two minutes, and the results were quite conclusive that it would be a PG. However, some people were leaning towards a rating of a 12 due to the nature of the plot and theme of UFOs.



From this feedback, we think our film could be awarded a 12A rating for  the cinema. Although there would be none of the restricted content mentioned above, the overall plot may not be suitable for very young audiences as they may not understand it. The target audience for this film is children and teens between the ages of 10 and 15 and therefore a 12A would be suitable as 10/11 year olds are eligible to watch it with an adult, and 12-15 year olds would not require supervision to watch it. 

Showcase Evening

On Monday, Ms Foster hosted a 'Showcase Evening' where the AS and A2 media students presented their product to an audience of friends, family, students and teachers. From this evening, we gained lots of feedback, in written and video form.

From our video feedback, we can see that many people were impressed by the lowering of the sound when our character removed his headphones, spoken about by Leanne and our actor, Ted.



Our written feedback was somewhat more critical, but is a perfect example of how we could improve if we were to re-shoot. The improvement which was suggested most frequently was the clarity of the phone/ text message shots, which I can agree with as they are not immediately clear. Other than this, the feedback was very positive, and we are very pleased with the reaction we received.

Dismantling the Set

After filming for 12 days, we were able to take down the set we created in my garage. The time lapse below shows how nearly everything in the mise-en-scene was added for filming, with only furniture and paint pots originally being from the garage.

Evaluations

Since our opening has been completed, we can now evaluate our final product with our feedback and our own views of what went well, and what could have been improved on. The questions to be addressed in  our evaluations are as follows:

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? 

How does your media product represent particular social groups? 

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? 

Who would be the audience for your media product? 

How did you attract/address your audience? 

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product? 

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Order of Title Sequence

On a typical film, the order of the titles in the opening tend to follow a particular pattern. This order is replicated on nearly all films, making it a convention of media products.

Typical Order:
-lead actor/s
-film title
-other actors
-casting
-music/ editor/ production design/ dir. photography/ exec producer
-produced by
-written by
-directed by

For our coursework we challenged the typical conventions of a media product as we changed the order of the titles displayed. We decided to order our titles in the following way: film title, lead actor, created/ directed by, produced/ edited by, other actors, cinematography by. We decided on this order as we felt it fit well to the flow of the film, and if we'd had stuck to the typical order it wouldn't have fit well to the story. For example, we decided to start off with the film title as it was integrated into the establishing shots and it would, therefore, not fit with the story to go back to this after the lead actor title. 

Length of Titles

On our trip to the BFI we were told that titles on a film typically last for 3-5 seconds. For our opening we have tried to ensure that all titles are 4 seconds long, however there are 2 exceptions. 

The title which reads 'Caspar Wright as Milo' is shown on screen for roughly 6 seconds, however we thought this would be a more suitable length of time than 4 seconds. This title is the only which is not left alone in the shot- unlike the others, there is something else happening within the shot the entire time. Also, the title is not placed in shot from the very beginning, and Elliott moves it into a position where it can be easily seen. This could distract the audience from the title as their attention may divert to what Elliott is doing, and therefore we decided to display this title for an extra 2 seconds.

The other title which strays away from the ideal 4 seconds is 'Kate Hide as Suzie' which is displayed for 3.5 seconds. This is still within the media convention of titles being between 3 and 5 seconds, but does not match with the others which are 4. The reasons behind this decision comes from the fact that the title is clear throughout the entire shot, and has very short words. The action happening within the shot is very quick, basic and wouldn't distract the audience from the title. It also broke the continuity to have this title displayed for any longer as the following shot shows Elliott lean over to use his laptop- had the title been on screen for 4 seconds, the time at which Elliott lent over would have looked unrealistic and broken the verisimilitude of this opening.

To ensure these titles were accepted by our audience, we made a feedback form which allowed for them to anonymously evaluate each individual title. Although some forms showed that these titles were too long and too short, the majority agreed that they were appropriate lengths of time.

Titles

For our title sequence, we decided that we would rather have creative, physical titles than types titles laid on to of the shot.The quirky, fun designs of the titles reflects the personality of the main character as he is shown to be an amusing, lovable character. Our aim was to have various different ways of displaying the titles, and not to have any that were similar.

UFO

Our main title was made from lettering stickers placed on the map. This is the only one of the titles that stays throughout the rest of the film as we have other words styled like this elsewhere in the set so leaving this in would not break the continuity. 

Ted Russell as Elliott

The first role title showed the name of our main actor with the characters name underneath. We used a Dymo Labelwriter ™ to create this title, inspired by the use of this technique in Napoleon Dynamite (2004). We thought this would be an appropriate design of title for our lead actor as it stands out well on the white light switch.

Created & Directed by Rachel Harrison

Our third title was designed to look as if Elliott had drawn the doodles himself. It fit well with the theme of our film as the title is placed within the beam of the spaceship.

Produced and Edited by Katie Killeen

This set of titles is very different to any of the others as they are written on the characters polaroid pictures of potential UFO evidence. This was one of the first titles we had thought of doing when creating our plot.

Caspar Wright as Milo

This title features a character that is not introduced in our opening sequence, who, if this was a full length film, would become an established character later on. We decided to include this title as to not break media conventions, as having only one named actor would be unrealistic. The character of Milo is partially introduced in the scenes when Elliott receives text messages from his friend, as the contact name is 'Milo' with a photo of Caspar.

Kate Hide as Suzie

Much like the previous title, this features an actor/ character who has not yet appeared in the opening. However, as mentioned above, we included it as a way of sticking to media conventions of having a few named actors in the titles. Like Milo, Suzie is also mentioned in the text messages as a way of introducing her the audience.

Cinematography By Katie Killeen and Rachel Harrison

The final title is stylised in a completely different way to the majority of the titles, being typed rather than written. The creation of this title differs to the others as Elliott is involved in it by typing the  word 'cinematography' rather than it being just a part of the mise-en-scene.

Diegetic Sound

Although our music was diegetic, we challenged conventions of this towards the end of out product. After seeing the character remove his headphones, we allowed the music to gradually get louder and go above the original volume whilst the main action takes place. Loud music throughout an opening is a typical convention and we therefore conformed to this. As well as this, we thought it would be appropriate to do this whilst there is a fast moving sequence showing, as it helps for the audience to realise the rush and urgency Elliott is in after receiving the vital text message.

Choice of Video

The video shown to the audience through Elliott's phone features an unidentified flying object passing over a bridge on screen behind a news presenter. However, the original sound which accompanied this video was not about UFOs, as it was taken from the BBC morning news segment, so we dubbed the voice over from another video on top of this one. We lined up the point in the video which homes in on potential extra-terrestrial with the point where presenter reports on "flying saucers" as a way of adding to the verisimilitude as for it not to be obvious we used a different voice over.

We decided on using the video with a different voice over rather than an actual UFO video for a few reasons. Firstly, the majority of the videos available are American and we thought this would be unrealistic as the map clearly shows places in the UK. As well as this, there is a typical 'British news' feel to the look of this video, making the discovery seem plausible as it is discussed on the BBC. Thirdly, the title which appears under the video on the text message doesn't specify a year, whereas many other videos showed a previous date, which would contradict the fact that this was meant to be 'breaking news'. 

Audience Reception- Angela

As a way of gaining feedback from a variety of people, I contacted friends and family via messages, as well as recording the primary reactions of others. As seen in the screenshot, my friend Angela's initial reaction to our opening was very positive and she gave feedback without being asked. After this, i asked Angela if she would mind answering a few questions related to our film to give us more in depth feedback and some construction criticism which we could feature in our evaluations. Her responses are featured in the screenshots below.

Her feedback was very useful as it was different to the other responses. One feature she commented on was the 'Created and Directed By Rachel Harrison' title, which was not as noticeable as some of the other titles. However, it must be taken into consideration that Angela was watching on a phone, and her criticisms may have differed had she watched it on a larger screen. 

Re-shoots

After editing all of our opening, it was evident that there was a lack of continuity between some shots. There were also shots that, although fine in terms of continuity, did  not have the desired affect on the audience, and therefore needed to be re-filmed. The shots which we redid were mainly the ones which included texting, as the time on the phone changed from 17:00 to 16:23- clearly indicating a lack of continuity and breaking the verisimilitude. Also, we decided on refilming the ending shot with Elliott leaving the room in a hurry, as the original shot was not long enough as we did not see the garage door shut. This shot took a while to redo as we were adamant on having the tube of Pringles fly out of the bag, as spoken about here. Although the shot we have ended up using does not look as nice as our original shot, we have made the decision to use it as the door shuts and therefore brings the opening sequence to a natural end.

UFO- Final Piece

Shown below is the final version of out two minute film opening, 'UFO'. We have been working on this since October, and have been engaging in processes such as storyboarding, filming, and editing in order to produce this video.  

The majority of our opening consists of a title sequence, made from physical titles, rather than the more commonly seen style of typed titles which are laid on top of a shot. The title sequence is see throughout the majority of the opening, stopping at 1:36. From this point on wards we see a sequence in which our character receives an important text, watches the video sent to him, and clumsily packs his bag and leaves the room in a hurry. 

With help from class feedback and opinions from other people, we were able to edit our opening to be the best we could make it, and appeal to our audience.

Feedback Questionnaire Results

From the results of our feedback question, we used our audiences' responses to edit our titles to make them as clear and appealing as possible. Although the majority agreed with how they were presented and for how long, a few comments argued that that they could be altered.

It was argued that our 'Caspar Wright as Milo' title was too long, and once reviewing this we agreed as it was almost double the length of the others. We shortened this to be 6 seconds, whereas it was 8 before. Rather than shortening it to 4 seconds like our other titles, we opted to keep it slightly longer as there is movement happening in the background.

The 'Produced and Edited by Katie Killeen' title also received some criticisms. Although the feedback questionnaires showed only one person to be in disagreement with our original positioning sm we have since had some verbal feedback which suggested we repositioned it in the frame, in order to bring more attention to it, as the background is particularly busy as it is the map. We have since made these changes.

The final title seemed to be the most approved of, with there being no issues for either positioning or length of time.

Filming- Day 12

After 12 evenings of filming, we finally reached the final day!- well, unless we have to reshoot. Today's filming was extremely short, as we only needed two shots. We filmed a low angle shot of Elliott unlocking his phone; we had originally planned to do this as a high angle from over the shoulder, but this proved difficult with continuity with the time on the phone. To combat this, we used allow angle shot of our protagonists face, which lit up in a bright white after what would be him unlocking the phone and going to messaging. Although the audience will not see the phone unlock, it is reflected in his glasses enough for thereto not be any ambiguity of what is happening.

The second shot we needed was Elliott leaving the room after grabbing his emergency supplies.

Feedback Questionnaires

As a way to ensure all our titles were noticeable and easy to read, we used created feedback questionnaire below to give to our audiences to fill out anonymously. The aim of these forms was to make sure the titles were easy to read and on the screen for an appropriate time. The results of this questionnaire will allow us to edi t anything changes that need to be made before our deadline.

Choice of Sound Effect

In order to create verisimilitude, we decided to put a sound effect on the music once Elliott had been seen to take his headphones off- this was to make the sound non-diegetic and also to enable the audience to hear the sound of the video playing. We used the audio effects supplied by iMovie to create the desired sound, and after listening to all available, we were left with a choice of either Muffled or Telephone.

After much deliberation, we decided on using the Telephone effect as it gave a more electronic sound to the song, and helped to give the impression that it was coming from the headphones. It also had more of a sound change than Muffled and therefore emphasised what was happening to the audience.

Half Term

Rachel and myself spent a few hours today in school editing some more of our opening, as we would like to be able to show the finished piece to the class next week. We decided that our priorities for today were to focus on sound editing, as the class was quiet with hardly any other noise to distract us. 

By the end of today, we had:

1) edited the sound completely by adding effects to make it sound muffled when our character removes his headphones

2) chosen the video we wanted to be heard and Foley-ed it on top of the video

3) and lined up the beats of the music to certain shots, as they had moved from where they were previously, due to us having to cut down some shots by a few seconds.

Alternative Tripod

During filming, we discovered that some of our shots could not be taken with the tripod we had as, even positioned into its lowest, it was still too high. We realised this whilst filming both money shots from the various shelves, and the closing shot of Elliott's feet leaving the room.

Fortunately, we had decorated the set with small plastic ornaments of varying shapes, one of which perfectly fit the iPhone we have been filming on. By using this we enabled ourselves to film much closer to a surface and therefore bettered our shots.

Closing Shot

The last few shots of the opening sequence on our storyboard show Elliott leaving the garage after receiving a text message, and then closing with a floor level shot of his feet leaving the room. Originally, we had planned to see Elliott drop a packet of crisps earlier on in the film, and see him tread on one as he left the room- however we made the decision to have him put the crisps down on the table, rather than drop them on the floor, as the position in which we needed them to fall looked very unnatural. Because of this, the shot we thought we had decided upon using saw Elliott's feet leaving the room without crushing a crisp.

Although this shot would have brought a different angle to our film, we made the post-production decision to use footage captured on the last day - a mid shot of Elliott going out of the door in a hurry, and having the Pringles (that were packed in his rucksack) fall to the ground. We decided to use this shot as we believe it really represents the character well, as he is clumsy and it brings a comedic feel to both him and the film. This shot was completely unplanned, as we aimed only to have a shot of Elliott leaving the room. However, it really fits well with the film and have decided to include it.

Filming- Day 11

After today's filming, we are now really close to wrapping. We didn't film for particularly long today, as the main focus was to film the shot with Elliott taking his headphones down. Now that we have this shot, myself and Rachel can work on our sound editing, where the music drops as to make it diegetic.

The only other shot we filmed today was Elliott leaving the room- although we already had a shot which showed just his feet leaving, but during our last editing lesson we made the decision to use a full shot, rather than a focus on just the feet. The lighting in the room, especially close to the dark floor, made it look like there a continuity error in the light, as contrast from the shots before and after was highly noticeable. We thought it would flow better if we used a full shot.

Audience Reception - AS First Look

During today's lesson, we showcased our unfinished product to the rest of the class and recorded their feedback on what we had achieved so far. The majority of our film is complete, but there are 2 shots we need to add in for cohesion, and we are yet to finish editing the sound. 

The feedback we received was positive, and a lot of the comments were made in regard the the missing shots and sound, problems we will be able to rectify once we have shot the missing links. Once we have finished our opening, we will show the class again and ask for their feedback on the final piece.

Audience Reception- A2 students

In order to gain feedback from a variety of people, we showed a group of A2 students our film opening so far. We thought it would be interesting to hear the views of people who had done the same course, but also never seen any of what we had so far produced, as they would be able to pick up on errors we may have missed. 

Their feedback was greatly helpful, especially the comments regarding the missing title shot, and making the acronym 'UFO' stand for something other than 'unidentified flying object'

Filming- Day 10

The focus of this evening's filming was to shoot

all the shots which involved text messages. Unfortunately we have been having difficulty with iMessage- the phone is not responding well to receiving so many messages, as we are constantly redoing the shots, and adjusting the time. Due to this, we have decided to try to use WhatsApp for these shots, and will edit them into our project

next lesson, to see if they work better than using iMessage.

Filming- Day 9

Today's filming started with redoing our 'starring' title, as we decided to lay it out differently. Originally we had planned to move between the light switch and the nearby plug, and have the title split between these two objects. However, it was proving difficult to get a smooth movement and then steady the camera for a long enough time to allow the titles to be seen. For this reason, we changed the title from "Starring Ted Russell as Elliott" "In UFO", to simply "Ted Russell as Elliott". This allowed us to keep the title on one object, and eliminates the risk of unsteady camera movemnts, and made it look much more professional.

We also filmed shots towards the end of the film, such as the packet of Space Raiders being dropped onto the floor, and low angle shot of Elliott's feet leaving the room.

Establishing Shots- Update

As mentioned in a previous post, we had planned to shoot our establishing shots outside a house over the Christmas holidays- as well as his we were going to add some shots of inside the garage. However, due to timing restrictions, we have decided to cut the shots from outside the house, as otherwise we would not have the time to finish the opening.

Today, myself and Rachel filmed our establishing shots of inside the garage as we didn't need Ted to be involved. The shots we have taken are mostly pans and stills of various pats of the room such as the Doctor Who figurines, and the hanging solar system. As we are unsure of what we want our establishing shots to look like, we filmed them from various different angles and will make the decision during editing. 

Filming- Day 8

Yesterday was the 8th day of filming and we focused on all the shots surrounding the 'Cinematography by Katie Killeen and Rachel Harrison' title. The surrounding shots work as a lead up the the title as is the only title which the character creates, rather than it just being placed on objects in the set. As well as the shots listed on the shooting schedule, we also added in a shot of Elliott pushing his glasses back into place after leaning over to the laptop; we decided this could be cut in between shots of touching the mouse pad and writing the title, as it they needed to be shot from slightly different positions and could not be done in one, smooth movement. 

Filming- Day 7

Today's filming focused around the fourth title in the sequence, 'Caspar Wright as Milo'. Positioning the camera to capture the title proved to be harder than we had anticipated, as it to shot involved the title on the bookmark moving into shot, and there were a few takes which saw the bookmark be moved too far and not being seen. We filmed this over the shoulder shot from various heights and over both of Ted's shoulders, and will compare the shots during our editing lesson on Wednesday.

Filming- Day 6

Today was day 6 of filming and we filmed for a 2 hours this afternoon. We had scheduled 6 shots which we aimed to complete, but had to stop after the first 4 as the writing shot took a lot longer than anticipated. Also, we shot the close up of getting the pen from various angles as we were unsure of which would look best, and it saved us from potentially having to re-shoot it on another day. 

Cinematography- Eastenders

New Year's Day always holds a special episode of Eastenders and this year was no exception. Audiences across the country watched in despair as the iconic Mitchell sisters drowned in the pool at older sister Ronnie's wedding reception.

This hour long episode was assisted by clever camera work and effects that are rarely seen in soap, making it obvious that this was to be no standard episode. A series of arc shots, slow motion effects and overlapping were employed during the scene at the wedding reception. In addition to these techniques, the lighting was very high key and there was a strong selective focus in the majority of the scenes.

These factors contradict the typical cinematography of a soap opera, which usually consist of more basic shots and straight cut, parallel editing. This makes the featured techniques all the more impressive, and was noticed online by many viewers.

Unfortunately it is too late for us to use any of these techniques in our coursework as it has been planned and filming has nearly been completed. Also, these shots would not compliment the feel of our film opening and would not make sense to the story. 

However, these are the types of shots and effects that are likely to be seen in an upbeat music video and would be useful to consider for my A2 coursework. Next year, the course requires us to produce our own music video and these techniques are very impressive and would be interesting to incorporate into my own work.

Establishing Shots

We have planned for our film opening to feature some establishing shots and a few shots of the inside of the garage before the title sequence/ action begins. The establishing shots are to be of the house of the main character, focusing on the garage as that is where the next scene (and title sequence) takes place.

Although our opening is filmed in my garage, we are not going to be using my house for the establishing shots; we want something that looks like a typical suburban house, whereas mine is a town house so does not fit the look we are going for. Instead, we are planning to film our establishing shots at a two storey, corner house, with a red garage door so it is clear exactly what is being focused on. As it tends to be dark at the time school ends, myself and Rachel are planning to film our establishing shots during the day in over the Christmas holidays.

Filming- Day 5

Today was our fifth day of filming and we completed the shots we failed to film last week due to having to re-shoot certain shots. 

The shots we filmed today were:

- low angle shot of reaching for the crisps

- close up of eating crisps

-extreme close up of eyes focusing on polariods

Se7en- Reveiw

During our lesson last Wednesday, we watched David Fincher's 1995 film 'Se7en'. Over the course of the film, we saw the story of serial killer Jon Doe (Kevin Spacey) unfold, and watched the work of Detective Lieutenant William Somerset (Morgan Freeman) and Detective David Mills (Brad Pitt) as they investigate into each murder. At the second murder, it became evident to both the detectives and the audience that each homicide was based on the seven deadly sins, with Doe believing each of his victims had committed one of these.

The title sequence was featured after a few scenes from the film, but was unrelated to the story line. This was an interesting decision from Fincher, as usually titles are integrated into the film.

Filming- Day 4

For 4 hours earlier today, myself, Rachel and Ted got together to film a few more shots. As our last two filming sessions have not been as productive as we'd had hoped, we had much more planned today. Ted arrived at around 5:30 and we worked until 9:30, with a half an hour pizza break in the middle. In the 3 and half hours filming time we had, we'd planned to shoot shots 7-15, but unfortunately only got up to shot 12 due to some continuity issues. We noticed after shooting shot 12 that shot 9 would need to be redone, as our character was wearing his headphones round his neck rather than on his head. As he is wearing them in every other shot we have filmed so far, we decided we would need to re-film this as it would massively break the continuity and lower our grade. Also, we didn't manage to begin filming as soon as Ted arrived as we needed to replace parts of the set that had moved such as the laptops and any posters that had come away from the wall. For these reasons, we ended up losing nearly an hour of filming time, which is why we did not manage to get through all 8 shots.

However, today was the first time Rachel and I had decided to create a shooting schedule, and map out everything we had planned to film. This proved to be massively helpful and improved our efficiency as we didn't have to discuss what we were to film next. 

Shooting Schedule

For the first time, myself and Rachel have decided to plan out what we want to be filmed when we get together with Ted on Thursday 8th December. We are hoping this will be beneficial to our levels as productivity, as out last few days of filming have not been as productive as we would have hoped. During the first day of filming, a plan was not too essential as we had our storyboard, but now it is vital as a lot of our storyboard has changed. We are hoping to film shots 7-15 on Thursday, and have a note of what needs to be done in each shot. It is no longer correlated exactly with our storyboard as some shots have been removed, altered, or added.

Shooting Schedule

• 7   - behind shot of sitting
• 8   - mid shot of putting book on table, must see that the tape is NOT put down
• 9   - close up/ extreme close up of tape biting
• 10 - SRS, mid shot of putting the tape down and picking up the picture
• 11 - behind shot of sticking the picture to the wall
• 12 - close up of TITLE on the picture stuck up.
• DINNER
• 13 - low angle shot from Space Raiders to see reach
• 14 - low angle (different positioning) of opening crisps and taking one out
• 15 - close up of eating a crisp, eyes look round the map as if looking for something, fixates on polaroids.

Filming- Day 3

Yesterday's filming focused entirely on the beginning of our opening and introducing our main character. The shots we filmed were:
- Elliott entering the room
- Light switch and plug title

We weren't able to film much in the few hours we were together yesterday due to complications with the title shot. As we had 'Ted Russell as Elliot' on the light switch and 'In U.F.O' on the plug socket nearby, we needed a smooth, steady movement between the two; also, the shot needed to stabilise for 4 seconds on each title in order for our audience to be able to read the title. As we were using a handheld camera for this shot (in order to move freely across the titles), it was proven difficult to stay completely still on the titles. The shots were shaky and therefore had to be redone multiple times, taking up the majority of the time we had to film yesterday evening.

Filming- Day 2

Before filming, we highly underestimated the amount of time we would need to film our opening. We thought the majority would be able to be filmed on a Saturday, and finishing off the last few shows after school.

Today was the second day of filming, and we managed to complete 4 of our action shots for the end sequence. All of what we filmed today was not featured in our storyboard, and therefore anything we film after this will not correlate with the original shot number given.

Shots filmed today:
- Helmet money shot
- Backpack swing
- Taking the jacket off the chair
- Leaving the room and crushing the crisps 

Camera Change

During filming yesterday, Rachel and I decided we were no longer going to be filming on the school camera, but instead on an iPhone 6. Our reasoning for this decision was based on 2 factors; firstly, as the lighting in our set is not brilliant due to there only being one main light and a lamp in there, the camcorder was not picking up the details of set. Also, the lighting was a problem as the footage on the camera showed up as very yellow when filming from certain angles, and broke the continuity- an issue we didn't seem to have the phone. The second reason for changing to an iPhone was the quality of the footage when filming the texting scenes. The text messages are an integral part of the plot and must be legible, but we were finding them difficult to read from the camera. However, they were very clear when shot on the phone, but this did mean we had to change the phone used by the character, as we now needed this to film on.

Before making the final decision we re-filmed the shots we had taken, this time on an iPhone, and compared them- it is from these that we decided on shooting the entirety of the footage on a phone. Luckily we had only filmed two shots before deciding to change, so not too much needed re-filming.

Filming- Day 1

Yesterday myself, Rachel, Ted (our actor), and our friend Catherine spent the day filming. We had planned to shoot the final seven shots but unfortunately did not achieve as much as we had liked to, so have planned to meet up again tomorrow to film again. The shots that we did manage to film were 25- 30, but added some in that weren't originally in our storyboard. We decided to start with the last few shots as this is where the majority of the action is, as it is primarily a title sequence. Luckily we started with these shots as, after filming 25 and 26, we discovered that the camera we were using did not show screens particularly well, and both of these shots revolved around reading messages from a phone screen. 

Set Design

When brainstorming for ideas and plot lines for our coursework, myself and Rachel designed what we would ideally like our set to look like. Marked in red is where we have planned to place our titles as they trail around the room to different locations. 

Earlier today we spent the day setting up the garage, and the final set design looks very similar our initial design. The only main difference is the chair we used- we had planned to use a yellow inflatable camp chair, but swapped it for a black fold up chair as we found it was too low down to the floor.

Polaroids

For one of our titles, we have 'Produced + Edited by Katie Killeen' written on some polaroid pictures which are placed on the map. These photos are on the map for the entirety of the film opening, but are only shown as titles for one shot. We had to take these photos ourselves and used locations and objects which cannot be made out, in order for them to be realistic and look like they were taken at places of the alien sightings. We took a few pictures of street lamps (polaroid on the left of the photo), which printed out as blurs of light, making them unrecognisable as lights and somewhat passable as possible UFOs. My favourite photo is one of the scratched metal of a letterbox (polaroid on the right) as it reflects the flash and highlights the scratches, and has a blue tint to it.

Visit to the BFI

The British Film Institute on London's Southbank is a four screen cinema, used for film/ TV previews, industry workshops, and educational talks/ activities. Today, myself and the rest of the ECS AS media class took a visit here to attend a Film Openings talk, in order to help us achieve the highest grades on our coursework.

The day consisted of 3 sessions, each hosted by media and film teacher Tom Woodcock, and a Q&A session with actor and director Dexter Fletcher. Sessions 1 and 2 discussed the conventions film openings/ title sequences, with 1 focusing on macro conventions, and 2 on the micro conventions. The second half of the day was split into 2 halves- the first half was spent watching film openings directed by Fletcher and having the opportunity to speak with him. The last half was the 3rd of Tom's sessions, entitled 'Making Film Openings', which gave us an insight into what needs to be done for us to achieve the best possible results from the time and resources available to us.