Action plan tick list #2

Above I have ticked everything so far and written in things that I have changed from my plan. To show how much I have kept going back to my action plan, making sure that everything has been done on my Blog.

Film company name

I asked some people in my class for the name that they like the most and from the above I have found out that Sparkle Productions is the most popular company name to use for my film.

Audience expectations - questions

Above I chose these questions to help me with my interview below on my blog, I chose these ones to then give me some ideas of how to use the camera appropriately towards what is happening on each scene. 

Audience expectations interview

Above is an interview that I did with three people to see what they expect an opening two minute film to be like and I also asked them a few questions about what might make my film stand out more. This helped a lot because I now have really good ideas on how to represent each character and to use the correct camera angles and movements to make it look the best it can.

The audience my film is going to be aimed at

My film is going to be mostly aimed at the ages 12+ the reason why this is, is because there is not going to be any swearing in my opening film and it isn't going to be too violent or scary. The idea that I have chosen to do is a crime type drama with a mysterious twist, where three kids firstly play hide and seek and are having a normal average day then something terrible happens after a while when one girl discovers the body. The reason why I chose this idea is because I can easily portray different camera movements to make it look as realistic as possible and the overall outcome will also look very professional. In addition the audience that I have aimed this at is mostly young children who can enjoy it a lot more and understand it a lot better than adults, also using this idea of a crime type scene makes it more interesting and when the kids are playing hide and seek at the beginning the audience thinks everything is okay. But because of the title this gives the audience an enigma code towards something unexpected that will happen near the end and I think the type of audience I have chosen is the right one for this type of film from the ideas that I have discussed above.

Setting and Location

Below are the key images to represent key scenes in my film:

The area that I have chosen for my filming is going to be in the woods near where I live, which is called Skinners Woods. I chose this area because it is very convenient and easy to get to, also it won't cost a lot of money to go to - I am trying to spend less amount of money as possible but get a good amount of filming out of it. In addition, I think using the woods in my opening two minute film is a good idea because then I can make my scenes more dramatic and add tension very easily from everything around me and add different moods as well to set the scene. But I need to make sure that no one is walking through the woods so then my filming doesn't go terribly wrong.

 

Here is a POV shot, this idea will be used to show the point of view of what the character is seeing and when each character plays hide and seek I want it to look fun and exciting and to make the audience think that nothing is going to happen. Also this scene is going to be used to show one character hiding behind a tree then another one jumping out and scaring them for a laugh. This idea is going to be used to confuse the audience into thinking that this was the bad bit that was going to happen in my film, but really it wasn't.

 

This image shows the area where most of the action will be taking place when the three girls play hide and seek and then unexpectedly the 'Masked Man' appears and knocks the girl over, the Man needs to wear a balaclava and also needs to wear casual clothes to make the audience guess who this man may be and why he is here in the woods. In addition because this man is unknown it adds a more better plot towards the film, but because it is only the opening scene I won't be able to make the whole film - I haven't got enough time.

 

This shot will be used for the beginning bit of my film to set the scene and add more of a dramatic effect towards what is going to happen next. Following on from this I will also use calm music to make the scene look like a normal average day, by doing this I will use an establishing shot to set the scene for where the area is going to be, so then the audience know where it is and understand a lot more as to why I have used this area when the characters arrive on the scene.

 

This final image will be used in my final film to represent the characters (I used my Dad to represent this) having a conversation towards what they want to do in the woods and they decided to do something play hide and seek because they have nothing better to do, but they don't expect the dangers that lurks in the woods of death, This scene will be near the beginning.

Setting and location for film - pictures taken

Above is all the pictures that I have taken for my setting and location, and I have narrowed them down to 7 pictures to show exactly where the main events are going to take place for my film. Also by doing this I can show clearly where everything is going to be and the reason why I chose this area.

Fonts for title of film

Below is a survey I took, asking my peers what they thought was the best font to use to go well with what will happen in my film and here is what I found out:

Above I have found out that the top font is the most popular one, I found this out from my peers and I will be using a font like this for my final film because it stands out a lot more and adds a bit of a sinister atmosphere to my film, which links great with what is going to happen in my video.

Character Profiles

Above is the characters that are going to be in my final film, I have also written down what characteristics they have to link to what happens in the film.

Survey - possible name for film

I asked all my class members what film title they liked the most, so then I have seen what the audience would find more interesting when watching my film and the title is very important to link towards what the film is going to be about.

Above my peers said that they preferred the name Masked Man, this maybe suggests that it gives an idea to the audience about what might happen in my film and that it is a very interesting name as well. However I really liked Hide and Seek but because that name has already been used for a film I couldn't use it, so instead I went for the one that my peers liked the most which was 'Masked Man'.

Warp films and Warner Bros. ideologies

Above I did some research on two different production companies Warp Films and Warner bros. to have a look and get some ideas for how they create films and I am going to use ideas from this research for my own film that I am going to create, especially from a Warp Films perspective because they had a very little budget to produce films unlike warner bros. who had a very large budget and it is a very popular company worldwide and for my short film I haven't even got a massive budget so it is not going to be as good quality as a film made by Warner Brothers, but I still need to make sure I make it look as professional as possible.

Mise-en-scene

Below is a presentation explaining the different props, clothing and anything additional that each character will need to make my film as realistic as possible and so it won't also get boring. Here is my presentation below:

Research on lighting

Many different lightings are used in many films and TV dramas to show exactly what is going on and the lighting is mostly used to fit in with the mood that is portrayed by the character or the setting. The reason for why lighting is necessary in filmmaking is because the producers cannot cope with having normal light contrast of real life, for example if you shoot a scene without any artificial lights, then the look of the scene will show shadows completely black or the highlights of the action that is going off will go completely white. In addition if I want to start filming I need to make sure that I do it in the day and make it look natural as well, but the only way to do that is to have enough light to then make the film look professional and easy for the audience to watch what is going on. Below is different lighting techniques to maybe try and use in my film:

• Soft front light / hot backlight - when this light occurs in a film the light source is given from the front and a stronger, more directional light from the back, so the subject can have light around the edge of the subject. You can also arrange the lights so that you can leave the darkness between the area, depending on how you want the shot to be to portray someone's feelings in a particular scene.
• Mixing colour temperatures - mixing the colour temperatures can be used to create a great effect, this can either be if there is a fighting scene or someone who is scare or even if the director is trying to show an unknown life form by using lighting to show it's characteristics and that they are completely different to the other characters
• Open faced - This type of light that is used, is used to create hard light that casts some shadows. Also this light is as bright as a house light and provides nothing in between the bulb and the person who is acting, also this light has a lens in front of it this lens is there to concentrate the light people often use.
• Fresnel - this is a special type of lens that is divided into different circles, resulting in a more thinner lens of the same power. This lens evens out all the light that is produced and allows the beam of light to be varied when shining on a character or a specific scene and you can also change the distance of how far the light goes.
• Practicals - this is any light that might be appeared in a scene such a table lamp or any other lights that might be used in different rooms of a particular scene to give a better realistic effect.

An example of a TV programme that uses light to show what the character is trying to do and to show characteristics of that character as well is in Doctor Who Family of blood, in these two images below green light is used to show two people communicating towards one another and light that is used here is green to suggest that they aren't from this planet and are also from a different universe. However green connotes to something good happening in this scene and that these people are harmless and overall this can confuse the audience into thinking that they aren't harmless, but this is untrue and it kind of confuses the audience into liking them a bit more and even gives a positive atmosphere as well and maybe everyone in the episode is safe for now!

This second picture shows green in the background again, but because they are family it shows a friendly atmosphere (unless you get to know them a bit more then you are DOOMED) this also confuses the audience into falling for their trap. This links in great with the overall episode to show how easy it is for these aliens to take over people's minds and act like humans so easily.

From this analysis even though I haven't got the professional equipment to use to represent what is going on in a scene I can make sure that I film my work in the day so I can show a more realistic environment and if I need to change the colour of the background to either build tension then this would go great with my film and will make it also look more professional. Also I can use the different environments to express how someone may be feeling, for example using a rainy day to show someone being sad.

Feedback on Storyboard

From the comments I have found out what my peers think is good and bad about this storyboard that I have drawn out myself:

• They said that my storyboard has used good use of explanation on why I have used a shot, I have used a good storyline with captivating shots, illustration of the story is well presented and easy to understand. When drawing it out I made sure that I got every detail down for each scene and this then will help with my actual film towards working out where everyone should be when I film them in my actual piece of final work. 
• However they said that I needed to improve on using more varieties of shots to then give more explanation towards what will happen in each scene and to then make it interesting and show the story from different angles, include more sounds used in the scenes to portray the feelings of the characters and to show exactly what is going on, I need to be more creative with the narrative/storyline to make it stand out from everyone else's film and be more interesting to watch as well and when I think about my film I will also need to think about how long each shot will last for so then I can meet the brief of doing 2 minutes for my final film.