Gels Practice

As regards the gel testing of which there is a video below, the colours came through better than expected. I managed to get hold of them through the drama department and they were better expected. The red and green gels gave the richest colours on the brick. The blue I think came out too dark and while causing a dramatic change in light, I'm not convinced that it would cause the right wash effect. All of these gels are usable though I can't immediately see a use for the green gel. The one thing I will do now having seen the clip is try using a blue gel that is lighter in colour. This would give a better cold wash.

Gel testing video

below is the video of the different coloured light gels and what colour they made the white light.

Sound

Just to add to the 8 tracks that we have for sound, if we want any other interesting tracks there are a few on the website below. Although they are titled horror they are not all necessarily for a horror movie.

http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/index.html?genre=Horror

Also as you can see at the top there is browse by genre or feel and i am sure we would be able to find some good tracks from here. They are all copyright free so are good for use.

Permissions letter and Chosen Location

Hi all,

I asked my dad to write a permissions letter to say that he gives us permission to use the farm land and buildings in our media film as these are our chosen locations. Below is what he has written and signed.

Outline of the whole film

A group of friends are out camping in a field. One of the female members staggers off across the field drunk. She realizes she is lost and she begins to try and find her way back towards the tent. However as she begins to do so, she finds herself venturing into a wooded area. She begins to feel she is being followed. She begins to run through the woods. She reaches an old abandoned caravan which has furniture overturned, stuff strewn everywhere, blood all splattered up the walls and then her eyes fix on the body of a young woman who is dead on the floor. She screams and gets a mental image of a hooded figure with a knife, stabbing the woman in the room.
The girl wakes from a nightmare later that night in the tent once the drama is over and she is back with her friends but wakes up with a start.
Once woken from this nightmare, each night in her head she keeps seeing the same scene over and over again, but each time she sees a bit more of the attacker and feels his presence.
THIS IS THE TWIST IN THE STORY!!! - if she is aware of him, then he is aware of her and he senses her and he is beginning to look for her.
Throughout the days going by she continues to think of him. Strange things begin to happen to her like things begin to go missing and things appear that were never there before. She is the attackers next victim.
Everytime he gets close to finding her, she somehow prevents him from finding her.
The story ends on a cliff hanger with them meeting each other and its up to the audience to decide whether she lives or dies.

Fonts

I was thinking about the different fonts that we could use for our titles. I have a CD with over 1000 different fonts so some of these we may be able to look at using. I have been through all of them and picked out the ones that i think are most interesting. Not all of the ones i have picked out will be suitable but i have done to give you and idea.
Unfortnatly i am unable to get them on the blog as the blog only has its preset fonts so i will print them out and bring them to the next lesson and also try to scan them in as an image to put on the blog.
The only thing we will have to look into is asking the IT department how we can get these onto final cut express if we wish to use them in our coursework. I do have a rough idea because i have imported them onto my laptop so i will bring in the CD and we can have a look at how it may be done.

Edited Story

Here is the beginning that we (Jonny and Grace) have started to edit to show camera angles that we think would work well for each clip.

A group of friends are out camping in a field.
The scene starts with a clip of the friends around the fire being merry and having a beer. – high angle, descending. (moving/diagonal pan/zoom)
Cuts to one of the female members staggering off. – extreme long shot of tent in the background with rowdy people, long shot of girl approaching camera – edge of the woods in view through – walks towards the camera and out of shot.

Timetable of Study Periods

This is posted on the side but you cannot seem to see it so here it is in a large image.

Another Story idea come from things to bare in mind

I was thinking about things that we should bare in mind when we are thinking about which storyline to take because there is not point in having a storyline if we are unable to to do it because we do not have access to the locations needed, resources we need and the people we have access too as actors.

I think that we need to bare in mind:
- the locations we have access to
- resources we have access to and
- the ages and genders of the people who would be willing to take part.

While considering these i came up with another idea that would fit with the people who are likely to take part and the locations that are available to us.

Idea

A group of friends are out camping in a field. The scene could start with an clip of the friends around the fire having a beer and smoking. It cuts to one of the female members staggering off across the field to find somewhere to go to the toilet. She is drunk and doesn't really know where she is going. It cuts to a different angle of her realising she is lost and she begins to try and find her way back towards the tent. However as she begins to do so, she finds herself venturing into a wooded area. A POV shot could be used here.
Cuts to a medium shot so that the woods can be seen. You can see on her face that she is beginning to feel some kind of presence. A long shot can be used to show her looking all around, not sure if it is in front or behind her. The camera can jump cut to a close up of her facial expression, then to a tree or bushes rustling in the wind and branches swiping past her body.
She begins to run. A long shot can be used for this. She is panicky and she is breathing heavily. Through the trees she can see a light and begins to run towards it. She reaches a light which is on in an old abandoned caravan. She runs up to the door banging on it in hysterics. Under the pressure of her leaning on it the door flies open and she stumbles in banging the door shut behind her. A POV shot can be used as she slumps against the door and looks about. Her heart is thudding and she is gasping for breath. When she looks towards the living room of the caravan and takes in the scene around her. - there is furniture overturned, stuff strewn everywhere, blood all splattered up the walls and then her eyes fix on the body of a young man/woman who is dead on the floor.
A close up of her face could be shown when she lets out a scream - it then cuts to her friends around the fire hearing this and then back to her holding her head in her hands, sobbing. It cuts to a mental image she has of a hooded figure with an knife, stabbing the woman in the room.
It then cuts to the girl waking from a nightmare later that night in the tent once the drama is over and she is back with her friends. - This could be a good ending for the opening or we could somehow include the next bit - the next bit is also kind of the rest of the story.

Once woken from this nightmare, in her head she keeps seeing the same scene over and over again, but each time she sees a bit more of the attacker and feels his presence.
THIS IS THE TWIST IN THE STORY!!! - if she is aware of him, then he is aware of her and he senses her and he is beginning to look for her.

Sound

I had a look at the website that you found on music Henry. As Grace said there is some very good pieces on there. I found a few that I like and would suit a range of possible films. Good shout. What is the deal on using them though? I don't understand.

Storyboard Filming (URGENT)

Monday 11th January

In Miss Rose's lesson we were supposed to do a group story board of one of our possible films. Because you (Grace and Henry) are on study leave I suggest doing your own story board for your best film idea which is possible.

Miss Rose gave a list of things to include for each 'frame' or 'picture' which are:

1. what you see

2. what you ear (music, dialogue, sound effects)

3. how to cut between shots (transitions)

4. props

5. lighting for the shot

6. which type of shot will be used

7. location

(8). Make sure to comment on Camera, Editing, Mise en Scene, Sound (CEMS)

Bring in what you've got to the next lesson we are all hear and we'll see what we like then do a fuller more finalized storyboard. I think the next lesson we're all here is Friday 15th Jan (this week)

Casino Royale Clip

In this clip I am focusing on analysing the first 3 minutes. However, the entire sequence has potential core idea which could become the basis for something.

Story Plot Ideas

Idea 2

Two detectives turn up at a crime scene and start their investigation. But it all looks familiar, too recognisible. De ja vu. The hunt is on. Can these two detectives uncover this elusive killer who has stalked them over the years. Followed them. Every time they move department and state they think they've taken him off the streets. But he's still out there, biding his time. Can this masterful duo catch this psychopath, or will they out done again......?

This clip opens with the crime scene and the two detectives being called in to investigate. Almost instantly after seeing the body they know that they've seen this before. A long time ago in a state hundreds of miles away, but they've seen this before, far too many times. The film comprises of the two detectives having flash backs to different crime scenes.

Music

That is some very good music. Well found Henry!!!

As it says on the website if you wish to use the music please contact me so i think we should do so. If we have the oppotunity to use it, then why not. There are some intersting pieces avaliable here to choose from and as of yet i dont know which is my favourite and until we know what our story is about it is hard to tell. For now we could just ask the guy about the use of his music and if he says that is fine later, we can request the tracks that we would like. Since you found the music would you be happy to email the guy about the use?

Story Ideas

Hi guys here are 3 story ideas that i have come up with.

Idea 1: The main character in this story would be a crime scene investigator.
The sequence would start with a long zoom of the crime scene investigators eyes and there is silence to add suspense. Then the eyes blink and noise is heard with the flashes of memories popping up. There should be snippets of memories that seem very confused and they should be short. At this point only the noise of the memory should be heard. The memories should come quick and fast and should show memories that are going to connect to the crime scene that will appear later, for example a teddy seen in a shop window could be the memory and then that teddy is on the floor of the crime scene shown later. An image then appears in his dream/nightmare of the crime scene that he will later visit. The memories should then be interrupted by a phone call and the lights and noise should fade out. The light should then flash back with the sight of red and blue flashing lights. The crime scene investigator should then be seen entering the caravan (we have an old dirty one which is not used) which has blood trailing out of it. The film should then finish on the image of the brutal Crime Scene he is attending only and the noise should go dead as he enters the caravan only his breathing should be heard and once he sees the scene of crime the sequence will end.

Idea 2: The main character in this story would be an ordinary, middle class guy, who has a middle class job. The story is about a nightmare he has and every night something else happens in the nightmare. The clips would jump between him in bed thrashing around and the nightmare he is having. Eventually his nightmare comes true, but on someone else.

Idea 3: The main character in this story would be a young girl. She is playing in the park where her mum can see her from the flat window. Her mum is watching her and she looks away for a second to see what the dog is barking at and when she looks back the girl is gone but the swing is still swinging. The rest of the film is about the hunt for the little girl and the messages that the mother keeps receiving over the following weeks. They never actually find the girl’s body, only bits of her clothing that keep appearing near where she went missing over the following weeks.

Plot Summary for Thriller Plotline

Here is one plot idea for thriller coursework, in my mind this is very brief and plot twists could be added to make the story more thrilling.

The film begins with a series of murders (in different locations) all with a link between them. The CSI step in. These murder victims have been marked, the killer sending a message.
As the Police start to understand what connects the victims, we cut (in simultaneous time) to the killer's whereabouts and next target. The target is now revealed to the audience, the police soon catch on.
Now it is all about the chase, can he survive?

Self Evaluation of Skills

We have been asked to evaluate our skills both physically and technically as part of our pre-production of coursework.

(Out of 5, 5=excellent)
Organisation: 4
Deadlines: 4
Reliability: 5

What could I do to improve/Help needed?

Organisation (Help needed) - To help improve my organisational skills it would be useful if my group delegated to each person what they are to be doing in written form (on paper or blog)
Deadlines (What could I to improve) - Write a personal plan of tasks set, what's involved and when I will do it. I would hope to stick to this plan rigidly so I do not fall behind on deadlines.

Technical skills

Camerawork: 3
Editing: 3
Understanding of Light: 2
Understanding of Sound: 2

What could I do to improve?

During the preliminary task, together as a group we edited the piece on final cut express and I seem to be learning the ins and outs of the software. I believe I am still some way off from being technically sound with the editing process. We syncronised the sound as it was out of time with the piece of film, but we didn't change sound deliberately to create a certain effect. This is something I could improve on - using sound/light in better ways to give different effects e.g. shadows. I can also improve on the editing process by practising using Final Cut Express.

Story Idea

The following is just an idea of a storyline and the camerawork that could be used.

The main character in this story would be a crime scene investigator.
The sequence would start with a long zoom of the crime scene investigators eyes and there is silence to add suspense. Then the eyes blink and noise is heard with the flashes of memories popping up. There should be snippets of memories that seem very confused and they should be short. At this point only the noise of the memory should be heard. The memmories should come quick and fast and should show memories that are going to connect to the crime scene that will appear later, for example a teddy seen in a shop window could be the memory and then that teddy is on the floor of the crime scene shown later. An image then appears in his dream/nightmare of the crime scene, that he will later visit. The memories should then be interupted by a phone call and the lights and noise should fade out. The light should then flash back with the sight of red and blue flashing lights. The crime scene investigator should then be seen entering the caravan (we have an old dirty one which is not used) which has blood trailing out of it. The film should then finish on the image of the brutal Crime Scene he is attending only and the noise should go dead as he enters the caravan only his breathing should be heard and once he sees the scene of crime the sequence will end..

Location

To my photobucket location folder i have added lots of photos of my location. These photos are of all sorts and there are many more that i could have taken but i limited it because i thought that you are going to get the chance to see this for real when we location scout later on.
The only thing i have not included is images of the church which is only a few doors down and so easily accessible if we wanted to use this.

I have permission from my dad to use almost any of the farm which is pictured and with his permission anything we are unsure of. I also have many contacts within the village and i am sure i could get permission to use the church and other features of the village like the cricket pitch if we wanted too.

I was also thinking that if we needed to make anything for our production i have the facility to do so and if we knew in a reasonable amount of time i am sure that we would be able to do so.

My Location

Where i live there is no access to a bus unless i am driven to a bus stop and there is no access to any other transport without being driven. My parents are happy to drive me if it is convenient at the time.
My parents are also happy for us to use the house and my dad is happy to allow us to use the farm providing that we a not doing anything stupid or immature towards the animals and the rest of the place.
As i live on a farm there are many atmospheric places in which filming would create an eerie effect. There is broad landscapes and many barns and yards that can be used. There is also a butchers shop which could be used well to create so creepy effects and i am sure that there is the possiblity of using this as well.
The lighting could be a problem however we do have flood lights that would allow us to generate light and also we could probably use this to change the hue. There are not many plug sockets but in most places there is at least one meaning that the use of an extention lead would allow for continuous mains power and charging the camera at certain places while filming. There is also many other benefits of using the farm like we have the animals which can be included and there are easy to access tracks and woods that we do not need permission to use as they are owned by my dad and uncle. Also at night, it is very creepy and eerie as the sounds of the animals squeeling and crashing into gates can make it scary. I know that when i am out there at night by myself i hate it and run through the yard.