Synopsis
When filming we will need the following things and to visit these places:
A place for memories to be filmed: Southend, beach, amusement arcades, rides.
A train station.
A train.
A scrapbook.
A bag.
The characters in our films opening: We have three main characters which are Daisy played by Libby, Elyza played by Katie. Daisy is the girl that is suffering from amnesia and Elyza is her friend. During the film opening we go through Daisy's memories with her friend Elyza.
Location: Our film opening will be located in Southend using the attractions available, we are using the beach, amusement arcades and the theme park. We are also going to be located at chelmsford train station and on a train.
Costumes: The two characters will be wearing normal everyday clothing as we are showing memories of special day to day things so we feel we don't need anything special or unique to be worn.
Audience: We have decided that our audience will be from the ages of 12-18 however it can be viewed by anyone if they wish to watch it. The certificate is a 12A.
A place for memories to be filmed: Southend, beach, amusement arcades, rides.
A train station.
A train.
A scrapbook.
A bag.
The characters in our films opening: We have three main characters which are Daisy played by Libby, Elyza played by Katie. Daisy is the girl that is suffering from amnesia and Elyza is her friend. During the film opening we go through Daisy's memories with her friend Elyza.
Location: Our film opening will be located in Southend using the attractions available, we are using the beach, amusement arcades and the theme park. We are also going to be located at chelmsford train station and on a train.
Costumes: The two characters will be wearing normal everyday clothing as we are showing memories of special day to day things so we feel we don't need anything special or unique to be worn.
Audience: We have decided that our audience will be from the ages of 12-18 however it can be viewed by anyone if they wish to watch it. The certificate is a 12A.
Music Changes
After trying out our music options with the filming we had done we decided that a more fast paced, as the music we had reflected a film that was more sad than dramatic so we thought a tense piece of music would work better in building tension and suspense to start the film off. We did some research into some more music and found the following;
I suggested this piece of music as it has a heavy beat behind it which automatically builds suspense which is what we wanted to create through the music. However we can't use this music as it too well known.
Our next song choice is an instrumental version of John Legends song Made to love. Similar to our first option is has a heavy beat that builds suspense. There is also a change in the music which suits our film opening as we want a different kind of music when the memories of Daisy begin to play.
Our final choice is a song that none of us had heard before, I found it whilst searching for some songs using youtube. I came across it and immediately thought it would suit our film.
Photos
This slideshow shows the photos that make up my blog and the journey from planning to filming. I have also included pictures from task I completed before beginning planning our film opening.
Titles
In our film opening we currently have 9 titles. in the following order:
-Libby Collins
-Runner productions
-Frankie Edwards
-Katie Harragan
-Amnesia (film title)
-Directed by Simon Hull
-Executive Producer Andrew Lavin
-Sound Effects by Debbie Ellis
From our feedback we found that we need to added 4 more titles:
-Music by Philip Round
-Casting by Jacob Odd
-Production designer Melanie Smith
-Costume designer Leanna Clark
-Libby Collins
-Runner productions
-Frankie Edwards
-Katie Harragan
-Amnesia (film title)
-Directed by Simon Hull
-Executive Producer Andrew Lavin
-Sound Effects by Debbie Ellis
From our feedback we found that we need to added 4 more titles:
-Music by Philip Round
-Casting by Jacob Odd
-Production designer Melanie Smith
-Costume designer Leanna Clark
More feedback
We edited our final opening scene using the feedback we recieved fromoir draft. We then asked our teacher to watch it, she gave us the following things to change before giving in our final cut-
We need to look at pur titles research and pit the titles in the right order
They need to be 2-3 seconds each
Part of the coice over doesnt make sense so we will delete the part saying she want to 'achieving my memories'
More photographic effects- freeze frames before they play
Sort music out- they change to quickly so it doesnt make sense
Bowling alley and ice hockey shots are too long so we need to delete a few seconds off each
Script Changes
During receiving our feedback we had a lot of people said the script wasn't long enough so the story line was unclear. They also suggested that it came further back in the film and we rerecorded it to make the voice slower and more meaningful.
From this feed back we made the following changes to the script.
Originally the voice over said-
'The doctor said brain activity should be maintained, he said looking at old pictures and going through my everyday routine would help.
It is now-
'I'm on my way back from the neurology unit at the specialist hospital in London. There was only a single thought running through my head that afternoon. The doctors that brain activity should be maintained. He said that looking through old pictures and going through my everyday routine would help. This was my first therapy to help with the retrieval of my memory and i was determined to make it work'
Originally the voice over said-
'The doctor said brain activity should be maintained, he said looking at old pictures and going through my everyday routine would help.
It is now-
'I'm on my way back from the neurology unit at the specialist hospital in London. There was only a single thought running through my head that afternoon. The doctors that brain activity should be maintained. He said that looking through old pictures and going through my everyday routine would help. This was my first therapy to help with the retrieval of my memory and i was determined to make it work'
Things that went well
From our first draft we were able to see things that went well as well as things that didn't, from our feedback and personal opinion we found that these things went well:
- The footage is southend fits well with our genre and looks good.
-The idea of the film is original and creative
- The footage is southend fits well with our genre and looks good.
-The idea of the film is original and creative
- Putting some of the effects to go with the music was good
- People thought the final shot in front of the sunset was good.
-The parts that fit with the beat of the music work well.
-We included various camera shots.
-People likes the production logo
-The titles that are pushed by the train look good.
-We had many comments saying the editing was good.
-Most of our shots were steady.
-The parts that fit with the beat of the music work well.
-We included various camera shots.
-People likes the production logo
-The titles that are pushed by the train look good.
-We had many comments saying the editing was good.
-Most of our shots were steady.
Storyboard
This shows our storyboard, it includes locations, angles and the titles that will appear in each shot.
Feedback
Various classes watch our film opening and gave us constructive criticism and advice on what would make our film better and more successful. We received the following feedback:
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This person gave us what we considered quite harsh criticism.
This person gave us some criticism as they didn't think the genre was obvious and they thought we should use dialogue to help make it obvious.
This was one of the best marks our of 60 that we received. Their only criticism was that the voice over should be further back in the film.
This person gave us an average mark out of 60 and gave some good advice on how we could make the genre more evident.
Overall we received both good and bad feedback and on average we received around 37-47 out of 60 for our first draft. We are pleased with this mark as we know it will improve with our final cut. The main things that were brought to our attention that we need to change are:
-There are to many black outs
-Some of the shots are shaky
-The audience are unsure of the genre in some places
-The audience weren't sure if the black and white parts were in past or not.
-The voice over is good but should come further back in the film.
-Needs more dialogue to make the story line more clear.
Marketing Campaign
This prezi shows how and where we will market our film using inspiration from a film similar to ours.
First Draft
This is our first draft for our film opening. For our final draft there are various things we need to add and improve on:
-We need to film some more footage of the scrapbook and add it in where there are black spaces.
-The music needs cutting at the end and at one point it jumps so we need to change that.
-Some of the footage is wobbly so we will need to re film and add that in.
-One title is missing from this draft which needs to be in the final draft
-We need to move the voice over further back in the film opening as it comes to early on.
-The footage looking over libbys shoulder into the scrapbook jumps so we need to change or re-film that footage.
I am pleased with our first draft but it does need losts of improvements before we hand in our final draft. Overall I think we did well with the time we had to plan, film and edit.
Draft Feedback
After watching out film opening draft for the first time, our teacher re-watched it and gave us some feedback on what was good and what we needed to improve on.
First of all she said what was good about our film:
-The first shot of the lift was good.
-The titles that are pushed by the train look
She then gave us feedback on what we needed to improve on for our final draft;
-The voice over came to early on the film, if people were just sitting down to watch the film they might miss it. It should come slightly later and should be slower and more serious, we will rerecord this.
-The shot of her walking along the platform at the train station is too wobbly, we need to re-film this or find a way to make the image still.
-The flashing to black is good as it builds tension but it happens to much so it begins to get annoying.
-The shot of Libby sitting look out the window holding her scrapbook is a nice shot so it should be longer.
-To fill more time we need to include 2 or 3 still shots of the scrapbook as it is so significant in the film.
-The sound effects title needs to be moved as it may be cut off once we export it.
-The effect on the tea cups looks to dark compared to the rest. We will change the saturation to make it lighter.
-The last title needs to come earlier as only trailers finish with the film title.
-The film is too short so we need to film some ore footage to make it to the required 2 minutes.
Using Premier
I have previously used premier but only the basic features. Within our film we wanted to include some interesting effects and images, for this we had to apply our own knowledge and find out how to use these effects and if they would work.
One effect we wanted was sections where there was just a black screen, and then flash back to the footage, like a shutter effect. To find out how to do this we used youtube.
We also decided that the memories should be in black and white. I found out how to do this on my own by playing around with some different effects.
We also wanted some of the effects to be slower as it seemed quite rushed, again I found out how to do this on my own. I knew how to change the speed of videos so I used the same strategy with the effects.
Some of our shots were too wide so we had parts that needed to be cropped. We used this video to find our how to do this.
From our feedback we were told that it would help with the understanding of the film if we had parts that were frozen and reflect the pictures in the scrapbook. This video helped us with how to do this.
One effect we wanted was sections where there was just a black screen, and then flash back to the footage, like a shutter effect. To find out how to do this we used youtube.
We also decided that the memories should be in black and white. I found out how to do this on my own by playing around with some different effects.
We also wanted some of the effects to be slower as it seemed quite rushed, again I found out how to do this on my own. I knew how to change the speed of videos so I used the same strategy with the effects.
Some of our shots were too wide so we had parts that needed to be cropped. We used this video to find our how to do this.
From our feedback we were told that it would help with the understanding of the film if we had parts that were frozen and reflect the pictures in the scrapbook. This video helped us with how to do this.
Titles font
This is the final font we choose for out titles during editing. We think it is quite simple but not so simple that it is boring, we didn't want the titles to be too distracting.
Reflection
Throughout planning our film opening we have had to make changes to suit the amount of time we had, how things would look on camera and the facilities we have.
-The first change was to the script. We originally planned to have a doctor giving the character (Daisy) her diagnosis however we found this would come to early on within the film. It also meant that the audience would have no idea as to why Daisy was travelling on the train looking at a scrapbook of her old memories. So we decided to change it to having Libby record a voice over Daisy explaining the treatment subscribed by her Doctor.
-We also had to change the amount of flashbacks to memories we would have due to timing issues. We originally planned to to have two or three pictures with each one having a pictures in the scrapbook we would zoom into before the memory played. However we found once we began editing we had more time to fill so we added in some more memories. This wasn't a problem as we shot as much footage as we could on the day we traveled to Southend so we didn't had to spend another day filming unless necessary. We now have just one picture in the scrapbook which triggers the other memories being played.
- When filming our title sequences we found that filming them letter by letter wouldn't work, the rest of the page looked to boring and blank. So we decided we would create some interesting titles using premier pro when we begun editing.
-The first change was to the script. We originally planned to have a doctor giving the character (Daisy) her diagnosis however we found this would come to early on within the film. It also meant that the audience would have no idea as to why Daisy was travelling on the train looking at a scrapbook of her old memories. So we decided to change it to having Libby record a voice over Daisy explaining the treatment subscribed by her Doctor.
-We also had to change the amount of flashbacks to memories we would have due to timing issues. We originally planned to to have two or three pictures with each one having a pictures in the scrapbook we would zoom into before the memory played. However we found once we began editing we had more time to fill so we added in some more memories. This wasn't a problem as we shot as much footage as we could on the day we traveled to Southend so we didn't had to spend another day filming unless necessary. We now have just one picture in the scrapbook which triggers the other memories being played.
- When filming our title sequences we found that filming them letter by letter wouldn't work, the rest of the page looked to boring and blank. So we decided we would create some interesting titles using premier pro when we begun editing.
Filming
Today we went to Southend to film our footage for our film opening, overall it went well and we got everything we needed and wanted to.
We began at Chelmsford train station where we filmed some footage including Libby walking through the barriers, getting on the train and the train pulling into the the station. Luckily we didn't have to wait for a train to long as we looked into train times before we left to ensure we didn't waste any time.
We got on a train to Shenfeild, we had to go here to change to the train that went straight to Southend. Between Chelmsford and Southend we filmed Libby walking down the train to find a seat. We also filmed her looking at the scrapbook and looking out the window.
When we got to Shenfeild we filmed Libby walking down a corridor and up the stairs which took her to the platform. We had some time before our train came so we decided it would be a good idea to re-film Libby walking onto the train to ensure we got a good, still shot. Luckily a train was already pulled into the station and wasn't leaving for a few minutes so we were able to film it a number of times and get the best possible shot.
We got a train from Shenfeild to Southend which didn't take to long. On the way we continued to film some footage on Libby on the train looking through her scrapbook and out the window. We moved down the train to find a carriage with less people in so we didn't disturb anyone with our filming and we didn't have anyone else in our shots as we want Libby to look as alone as possible.
When we got to Southend we walked down to the sea front as the majority of our footage would be shot there. We first shot the lift footage as it took us down the sea front, when we got down to the sea front we noticed that no one was in Adventure Island Theme Park, we immediately went to asks someone if it was open or not and unfortunately they told us it wasn't. We were hoping to film some of our footage within the theme park so we had to quickly think of other places to film. We had checked the website for Adventure Island before we came and nothing stated it wouldn't be open.
We didn't want to waste any time so we continued with our filming while we thought of some more ideas to replace the footage we would of filmed.
We first went to an arcade to shot some shots of Libby and Katie playing on various machines. There was a miniature bowling alley in the arcade so we thought it would a good idea to film some footage of Libby bowling.
Once we had shot all the footage we wanted in the arcade, we went out to the beach were I filmed Libby and Katie walking along the small pier, i also filmed a panning shot of the sea. We did this just at the right time as the sun was setting and it a nice effect to the shot. We liked the sunset so much we shot it with Libby standing just to the left of the sunset.
Finally we went back to the lift we first used and re-filmed it and also shot some footage of us standing infant of the sunset.
Overall i think we planned the day almost perfectly. we checked the weather to make sure it was suitable for outside filming, we took all the equipment we required with us, we had enough time to film all the footage and some extra incase we needed it.
We began at Chelmsford train station where we filmed some footage including Libby walking through the barriers, getting on the train and the train pulling into the the station. Luckily we didn't have to wait for a train to long as we looked into train times before we left to ensure we didn't waste any time.
We got on a train to Shenfeild, we had to go here to change to the train that went straight to Southend. Between Chelmsford and Southend we filmed Libby walking down the train to find a seat. We also filmed her looking at the scrapbook and looking out the window.
When we got to Shenfeild we filmed Libby walking down a corridor and up the stairs which took her to the platform. We had some time before our train came so we decided it would be a good idea to re-film Libby walking onto the train to ensure we got a good, still shot. Luckily a train was already pulled into the station and wasn't leaving for a few minutes so we were able to film it a number of times and get the best possible shot.
We got a train from Shenfeild to Southend which didn't take to long. On the way we continued to film some footage on Libby on the train looking through her scrapbook and out the window. We moved down the train to find a carriage with less people in so we didn't disturb anyone with our filming and we didn't have anyone else in our shots as we want Libby to look as alone as possible.
When we got to Southend we walked down to the sea front as the majority of our footage would be shot there. We first shot the lift footage as it took us down the sea front, when we got down to the sea front we noticed that no one was in Adventure Island Theme Park, we immediately went to asks someone if it was open or not and unfortunately they told us it wasn't. We were hoping to film some of our footage within the theme park so we had to quickly think of other places to film. We had checked the website for Adventure Island before we came and nothing stated it wouldn't be open.
We didn't want to waste any time so we continued with our filming while we thought of some more ideas to replace the footage we would of filmed.
We first went to an arcade to shot some shots of Libby and Katie playing on various machines. There was a miniature bowling alley in the arcade so we thought it would a good idea to film some footage of Libby bowling.
Once we had shot all the footage we wanted in the arcade, we went out to the beach were I filmed Libby and Katie walking along the small pier, i also filmed a panning shot of the sea. We did this just at the right time as the sun was setting and it a nice effect to the shot. We liked the sunset so much we shot it with Libby standing just to the left of the sunset.
Finally we went back to the lift we first used and re-filmed it and also shot some footage of us standing infant of the sunset.
Overall i think we planned the day almost perfectly. we checked the weather to make sure it was suitable for outside filming, we took all the equipment we required with us, we had enough time to film all the footage and some extra incase we needed it.
Filming locations
These are the rece-shots we took on location of filming.
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| We shot the first footage on a train. |
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| Some footage was shot at Chelmsford Train Station |
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| We shot quite a lot of footage in this arcade in Southend. |
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| This was standing on a viewing platform in Southend where we shot some footage. |
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| The viewing platform where we shot some footage as it gave fantastic views over Southend. |
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| I took this from the viewing platform, we shot some footage at the places in this picture. |
Amnesia Representation
Representation is the way in which people, events and ideas are presented to the audience.
Characters-
Daisy-
Daisy is the main character presented in the opening sequence. She represents a teenage girl with amnesia, deliberately not a generic character representation. She is not presented to the audience as a typical girly girl character but she is portrayed as a troubled young girl dealing with the problems she has. To most people she will be an object of sympathy, they want to help her but can't physically do anything and neither can she.
Eliza Thomas & Naomi Waters-
These two characters are Daisy best friends. They have been friends for years and stay together through thick and thin and share many memories together. They represent Daisy's escape in life, they distract Daisy and the audience from other events in the film. They are both normal, healthy young girls to represent that Daisy is not in fact normal and healthy.
Places-
The main location in our opening sequence is a moving train. We are using the train to represent that everything around Daisy is still moving, her life is still going forward although she isn't remembering anything. Everything on the train is carrying on as normal to represent that everything around her is still normal.
The memories are in various locations, they all represent her past that is slowly fading from her memory as she tries to keep it alive
Shot List
Here is a list of our shot in the order they appear:
-The first shot is a level shot of Libby standing looking out the window of the lift.
-The next shot is a low shot of Libby walking up the stairs in the train station, we shot it from the top of the stairs.
-The next shot is a level shot of Libby walking through the barriers at the train station.
-Next is a static level shot of the train pulling in to the station.
-The next shot is a close up shot of the train moving past the camera.
-The next shot is a static shot of Libby walking onto the train from the platform.
-Next is a tracking shot of Libby walking through the train to find a seat.
-Another tracking shot but this time the camera is close up to Libby as she sits down.
-The camera pans around Libby as she looks at her scrapbook.
-The next shot is from over Libby's shoulder as she looks through her scrapbook, at the end of the shot it zooms into the scrapbook before zooming out into the next shot.
-The next 2 shots are both of the scrapbook, they fade into one another as the pages turn.
-Next it zooms into the middle picture on the right side of the scrapbook.
-It then dissolves into the first memories which starts as a still shot of Libby and Katie before paying round them.
-The next shot is from Libby's point of view as she walks through the arcade so it is close up.
-For the next shot we used the tripod to film a high shot of Libby bowling.
-The next shot is a long shot of Libby sitting looking out the window of the train
-The following shot is an extreme long shot of Libby and Katie walking down the pier.
-The next shot is an establishing shot that pans across the sea front.
-The next shot is of Libby and me playing air hockey.
-It then changes to a close up of the air hockey as if it were from Libby's point of view.
-Another establishing shot but this time of Adventure Island.
-The final shot is a static shot of Libby standing infront of the sunset.
-The first shot is a level shot of Libby standing looking out the window of the lift.
-The next shot is a low shot of Libby walking up the stairs in the train station, we shot it from the top of the stairs.
-The next shot is a level shot of Libby walking through the barriers at the train station.
-Next is a static level shot of the train pulling in to the station.
-The next shot is a close up shot of the train moving past the camera.
-The next shot is a static shot of Libby walking onto the train from the platform.
-Next is a tracking shot of Libby walking through the train to find a seat.
-Another tracking shot but this time the camera is close up to Libby as she sits down.
-The camera pans around Libby as she looks at her scrapbook.
-The next shot is from over Libby's shoulder as she looks through her scrapbook, at the end of the shot it zooms into the scrapbook before zooming out into the next shot.
-The next 2 shots are both of the scrapbook, they fade into one another as the pages turn.
-Next it zooms into the middle picture on the right side of the scrapbook.
-It then dissolves into the first memories which starts as a still shot of Libby and Katie before paying round them.
-The next shot is from Libby's point of view as she walks through the arcade so it is close up.
-For the next shot we used the tripod to film a high shot of Libby bowling.
-The next shot is a long shot of Libby sitting looking out the window of the train
-The following shot is an extreme long shot of Libby and Katie walking down the pier.
-The next shot is an establishing shot that pans across the sea front.
-The next shot is of Libby and me playing air hockey.
-It then changes to a close up of the air hockey as if it were from Libby's point of view.
-Another establishing shot but this time of Adventure Island.
-The final shot is a static shot of Libby standing infront of the sunset.
Risk Assesment
This is a risk assessment for when we go to various locations filming. There is a very low chance that we will have a problem with any of this risks but we completed this form just in case.
Opening Titles
When we decided to change our genre to a teen drama we had to research into some film openings within this genre. Through research i found '50 First Dates'- a film about a girl with short term memory who lives the same day every day of her life not knowing so.
Order of titles:
7-20 seconds- The Columbia (Sony pictures) production logo
20-24 seconds- blank screen
24- music begins to play
24-27- 'Columbia pictures presents'
28 seconds- picture in background appears.
30-33 seconds- 'a happy madison'
34-38 seconds- 'anonymous content'
39-42 seconds- 'and flower films production'
43 seconds- camera pans right to reveal film name
45-52 seconds- '50 first dates'
Order of titles:
7-20 seconds- The Columbia (Sony pictures) production logo
20-24 seconds- blank screen
24- music begins to play
24-27- 'Columbia pictures presents'
28 seconds- picture in background appears.
30-33 seconds- 'a happy madison'
34-38 seconds- 'anonymous content'
39-42 seconds- 'and flower films production'
43 seconds- camera pans right to reveal film name
45-52 seconds- '50 first dates'
Genre Changes
When looking at our overall films we found that the genre was not obvious and us ourselves couldn't identify the exact genre we wanted to portray. We had different parts showing different genres, the titles were very quirky so they created the feel of a teen drama, the music did the same however the events occurring were more mysterious. Mystery was the original genre we wanted. We have done a lot of research into mystery and drama films that have similar events to ours but they are all very clearly within the mystery genre, we can tell from the lighting, the music, the camera angles, the titles and the acting. So far in our planning and filming only the events are mysterious.
So we have decided to change our genre, we came to the conclusion ours was more of a teen drama than a mystery, the titles are quirky, the music is sad and the events are dramatic so it all fits within this genre.
Practice Titles
We filmed our titles today, however we found that they looked boring as the majority of the space in the scrapbook was blank, so it didnt look like a genuine scrapbook someone had spent time creating.
We decided that we would find a different way to show the titles. When i was shopping i came across some 3d letters we could stick on the pages, when trying this out it looked more original and quirky. So we have decided we will decorate the background of the scrapbook and then place the letters over the top.
Feedback
We have recieved the following feedback-
Mr Amato- 'The genre is confusing especially the titles which don't seem to match the genre, aside from this it is a creative, original idea.'
He advised that we add drawings, doodles and pictures do the background of our scrapbook.
In response to his feedback we have tweaked our genre slightly, it is now more a teen drama than a mystery film. The titles were too quirky to be associated with the mystery genre.
Izzy Payne- 'When filming the memories Libby will have to wear different clothes to show they are in the past, other than that it is a good orginal idea'
In response to this we realised she was right that LIbby will have to wear differnt clothes when filming the memories or it won't be obvious that it is in the past.
Mr Amato- 'The genre is confusing especially the titles which don't seem to match the genre, aside from this it is a creative, original idea.'
He advised that we add drawings, doodles and pictures do the background of our scrapbook.
In response to his feedback we have tweaked our genre slightly, it is now more a teen drama than a mystery film. The titles were too quirky to be associated with the mystery genre.
Izzy Payne- 'When filming the memories Libby will have to wear different clothes to show they are in the past, other than that it is a good orginal idea'
In response to this we realised she was right that LIbby will have to wear differnt clothes when filming the memories or it won't be obvious that it is in the past.
Genre Conventions
The genre of our film is drama, to fit in with this genre we used the following things.
-it exhibits real life situations and the reality of them, so the audience can easily relate to the characters and the events- which is the purpose of a drama film; to move to audience and take them on a journey throughout the film.
-The theme is dramatic and real.
-We have both tense music to build tension which leads on to the rest of the film.
-We have used little dialogue so there are many questions for the audience to ask about the film and want to watch the rest of it.
- During the memories we have used low key lighting.
-Many of the shots as long, establishing shots to set the scene.
-it exhibits real life situations and the reality of them, so the audience can easily relate to the characters and the events- which is the purpose of a drama film; to move to audience and take them on a journey throughout the film.
-The theme is dramatic and real.
-We have both tense music to build tension which leads on to the rest of the film.
-We have used little dialogue so there are many questions for the audience to ask about the film and want to watch the rest of it.
- During the memories we have used low key lighting.
-Many of the shots as long, establishing shots to set the scene.
Moodboard
This includes all the places we got inspiration for our shots and titles from. It helped us decide how we wanted to lay it out and what order. These shots are from the following places-
-LOL- train scene
-Sunrise music video
-Wolverine- train scene
-Avicii- wake me up music video
-Bride Wars- title sequence
-Lizzie Migure- title sequence
-Diary Of A Wimpy Kid- title sequence.
Music Ideas
We looked at various types of music that would fit with our film opening. We wanted something that reflected the tone of the film and fitted with the genre conventions. We narrowed it down to the following songs:
Our first choice is a cover of Amnesia by 5 seconds of Summer. We choose this as the title and lyrics of the song are the same as our film title and reflect the reality of amnesia so people can relate to it. We wanted a song that wasn't fast pace but also wasn't slow paced so this song was perfect for that, the tone is just right for our genre.
The next song is a cover of Say something by Jasmine Thompson, originally sung by Christina Aguilera. The pace of this song is slightly slower to the first option however it still reflects the events and goes with the conventions of our genre.
Our final option is a cover of Adele's song Dont you remember, covered by Rachel Mount. This is slower than the other options however the title and lyrics reflect the events and the struggle our main character Daisy is going through.
Institution Research
New Line Cinema-
New line Cinema was founded in 1967 and since then has produced Oscar winning films like The Lord Of The Rings trilogy and some of the most popular film franchises in the world such a Sex And The City, Elf, Austin Powers, and Hairspray. In march 2008 New Line Cinema became a unit of Warner Bros. Entertainment although they still maintain separate development, production, marketing and distribution but coordinates with Warner Bros. to maximize film performance .
We chose New Line Cinema as it appeals to a more sophisticated audience and that is what we are aiming for. Our film deals with a sophisticated, serious issue that wont appeal to teenagers and young children so we are aiming for a much more mature audience. It can help by advertising in the right way to appeal to this audience meaning our film becomes as successful as it can be.
New line Cinema was founded in 1967 and since then has produced Oscar winning films like The Lord Of The Rings trilogy and some of the most popular film franchises in the world such a Sex And The City, Elf, Austin Powers, and Hairspray. In march 2008 New Line Cinema became a unit of Warner Bros. Entertainment although they still maintain separate development, production, marketing and distribution but coordinates with Warner Bros. to maximize film performance .
We chose New Line Cinema as it appeals to a more sophisticated audience and that is what we are aiming for. Our film deals with a sophisticated, serious issue that wont appeal to teenagers and young children so we are aiming for a much more mature audience. It can help by advertising in the right way to appeal to this audience meaning our film becomes as successful as it can be.
Amnesia Script
During filming this may change and we may add more dialogue if we come across a problem but for now we are happy with this script and directions.
Audience research
The genre of our film is a teen drama so our target audience is from the ages of 12-18. This age go to the cinema the most as they have the most free time and want to spend time going out with their friends. The gender that will most likely enjoy this film will be mostly femaleas the film is about three girls and their friendship and lives. We feel as though anyone younger than our target audience would enjoy it however they wouldn't understand the main theme of the film amnesia.
A prototype of someone who would enjoy our film is Jane, she is 14 years old and in year 10. She is a stereotypical girl who enjoys rom-coms and drama films. She goes to the cinema at least three times a month to see the latest films with her friends. Our film would suit her as it is dramatic and she is of the age that would understand the theme of our film.
A prototype of someone who would enjoy our film is Jane, she is 14 years old and in year 10. She is a stereotypical girl who enjoys rom-coms and drama films. She goes to the cinema at least three times a month to see the latest films with her friends. Our film would suit her as it is dramatic and she is of the age that would understand the theme of our film.
More Studnet Film Openings
I would give this film opening 56/60 so it is a high level 4. I have now watched it a number of times and it has taken me around three times to actually understand what is happening. The writing in some places is to small and is only on the screen for a short period of time but is vital to know what is going on. This makes it almost impossible to figure out the story if you only watch it once. However once i figures out the story line I was intrigued to want to find out what happens next in the film, The acting from the girl is very believable so it engages the audience, the effects they have used are very advanced so I haven't seen them in any other film openings but they make it very realistic. They have used simple titles so they don't distract from the other text and images. To improve i think they needed to not rush through the text and also use some different camera angles as they have only used one or two.
I would give this film 53/60, again the story line is not fully clear to the audience, we don't know who the girl in the footage is or why they are in the middle of no where. However the voice over is very believable as his voice sounds robotic and shaky like he is nervous and being made to do something he maybe doesn't want to. They have used many different camera angles, tracking shots, low and high shots, mid/long, close ups and also used effects to make some shots blurred and some doubles or lapsed. To improve i would suggest trying to make the camera less shaky as in some places it moves a lot when the shot is supposed to be static. I would also say they need to change the order of some of the shots, one moment he is sat in the car watching the girl, the next he is sat on a hill, the shots don't flow into one another.
Amnesia Research
I did some research on different types of amnesia and how to treat it to really help us plan how the character will react to the news she has amnesia and how she will begin to deal with it, as well as how to act with the disease.
Title Sequence
Memento-
0-2 seconds- The opening title 'Memento' is shown. The theme tune to the film by David Julyan plays.
0-1.10- Throughout this time all the titles are shown and the music continuously plays. The titles include 'Music by David Julyan', 'Costume design by Cindy Evans', Editor Dody Dorn', 'Executive producer Aaron Ryder', ' Screenplay by Christopher Nolan', Directed by Christopher Nolan'. There were more but i picked out these as the most important as they are the ones we will list in our opening.
The titles all appear in the same font and most last for around 4 or 5 seconds to enable the audience to read them.
27- 32 seconds- the hand that appears to be static in the background begins to shake the polariod picture it is holding.
The same action occurs again at 53-55 seconds and 1.04-1.06 seconds.
The repetition of the action gives connotations of forgetfulness or a routine.
1.10-1.11 minutes- here the shot changes from the static image to a close up of a man's hands holding what appears to be the same polariod.
1.11-1.12 minutes- the camera pans left to follow the polaroid into the man's other hand.
Through these seconds the camera is specifically placed so we can't see his face, it is hiding his identity.
1.16-1.19 minutes- Here we finally see the characters face as the camera tilts up. There a two visible scratches on his cheek.
1.19-1.21 minutes- static shot of the mans face
1.21-1.23 minutes-The man seems to hide something in his jacket but it happens to quickly we can't see what it is.
All the shots that follow are static. This is significant as it shows nothing is happening, everything is still in this exact moment.
1.23-1.24 minutes- Shot of his face
1.24- 1.27 minutes- shot of running blood
1.27-1.30 minutes- shot of static bullet
Both the bullet and the blood have connotations of death, guns, murder and gives the idea that the genre of this film is a thriller.
1.30-1.31 minutes- shot of static glasses
1.31-1.34 minutes- shot of a head facing the floor, blood is splattered around the head. As the audience we presume he is dead.
1.34-1.43 minutes- Everything reverses in these seconds, the bullet goes back in a gun, the head and body facing facing the floor stand up before and the glasses are placed back on his head.
1.43-1.48 minutes- the final shot is a close up of a man's face that is half covered by a shadow, a voice over plays as this shot is carried out.
Amnesia Scene's
Our film mainly revolves around the theme of Amnesia. The main character is diagnosed with Amnesia at the end of the opening sequence, this sets the questions up for the rest of the film. How will she deal with it? Will she get better? How much does she remember?
There aren't many films that have these themes but I managed to find a few.
Although 50 First Dates is a rom-com it will help us with our film as it has the same themes. During this scenes the main character finds out she has amnesia, it shows how she deals with this and how other patients deal with it. There is a scene with a doctor where he shows how people treat amnesia and different ways that can help. This will help us portray our character in the best way for the audience to believe she really has amnesia.
A famous film revolving around amnesia is The Bourne Identity series. The main character loses his memory through two an incident in which he receives 2 gun shots in the back. He is told that before the incident he was a trained assassin but of course he can't remember this. The film follows him trying to figure out who is telling the truth. This is more like a film we will use for inspiration for our film as it has the theme of amnesia and is also a mystery/thriller.
Another film involving amnesia is Finding Nemo. Although it is a kids film it deals with the issue in one of the main characters, however it is only short term memory loss. She forgets things she has told people minutes after telling them. I think she is presented as the extreme character, she is very loud and outgoing as it is a children's film. We want to present our character as more mysterious and she keeps herself to herself.
All of these films will help us to portray the character and they all present the issue in a different way because they are three very different genres.
Although 50 First Dates is a rom-com it will help us with our film as it has the same themes. During this scenes the main character finds out she has amnesia, it shows how she deals with this and how other patients deal with it. There is a scene with a doctor where he shows how people treat amnesia and different ways that can help. This will help us portray our character in the best way for the audience to believe she really has amnesia.
A famous film revolving around amnesia is The Bourne Identity series. The main character loses his memory through two an incident in which he receives 2 gun shots in the back. He is told that before the incident he was a trained assassin but of course he can't remember this. The film follows him trying to figure out who is telling the truth. This is more like a film we will use for inspiration for our film as it has the theme of amnesia and is also a mystery/thriller.
Another film involving amnesia is Finding Nemo. Although it is a kids film it deals with the issue in one of the main characters, however it is only short term memory loss. She forgets things she has told people minutes after telling them. I think she is presented as the extreme character, she is very loud and outgoing as it is a children's film. We want to present our character as more mysterious and she keeps herself to herself.
All of these films will help us to portray the character and they all present the issue in a different way because they are three very different genres.
Production Diary
Tuesday 10th November 2014- Today we had our first production meeting as a group.
Each person had good film pitches, all of our pitches were around the same genre of drama so we decided to stick with that genre. We went through a few ideas before deciding on the final pitch.
We all contributed equal amount to the final pitch as we all had different ideas for shots, locations and order of events. I am working with the same people I filmed my Juno task with and we worked well together then so i think we will continue to contribute different ideas and equally share the work throughout this task.
In the next few lessons we will pitch our idea to the rest of the class to get some feedback from others prospective. We will then continue to develop our idea and begin to plan a timeline and story boards.
We have set a time of three days to film our footage as we want to spend a longer time on the editing.
Thursday 12th November 2014- Today we had our second group meeting, we began to plan further details of our film. We decided on the names, the locations we were going to film and began to research some more films that were similar to our ideas.
Each person had good film pitches, all of our pitches were around the same genre of drama so we decided to stick with that genre. We went through a few ideas before deciding on the final pitch.
We all contributed equal amount to the final pitch as we all had different ideas for shots, locations and order of events. I am working with the same people I filmed my Juno task with and we worked well together then so i think we will continue to contribute different ideas and equally share the work throughout this task.
In the next few lessons we will pitch our idea to the rest of the class to get some feedback from others prospective. We will then continue to develop our idea and begin to plan a timeline and story boards.
We have set a time of three days to film our footage as we want to spend a longer time on the editing.
Thursday 12th November 2014- Today we had our second group meeting, we began to plan further details of our film. We decided on the names, the locations we were going to film and began to research some more films that were similar to our ideas.
The names of the characters and who would play them we decided on are-
Libby- Daisy Blackman
Katie- Eliza Thomas
Frankie- Naomi Waters
Mr Amato- Doctor Peters
Locations of filming-
A corridor that resembles a hospital corridor, most likely filmed in one of the school corridors. However if we can get access to a hospital like Broomfeild then we will film there.
Southend- Some of the memories will be filmed here. Once will be shot from the person riding a roller-coasters point of view, another will be of a sunset on the beach, and the last will be in the amusements/ arcades.
The main character will be reading the scrap book on the train so we will shot some at Chelmsford train station and then film her looking through the scrap book on a train, the train will most likely be to Southend so we can save money on train journeys.
We researched some similar films to our own and found a few:
Memento- A man with short term memory loss uses notes and tattoos to hunt the man he thinks killed his wife.
-Genre- Mystery/thriller
- Budget- $9 million
-Distributor- Summit Entertainment
-Producer- New Line Cinema.
The Notebook- The story of a man and women told on two levels, one is in present day where the pair have grown old and live in a nursing home, the other is the story the man reads to his wife of how they fell in love. In the ending we discover that the wife has Alzheimers, her husband is reading to jog her memory.
-Genre- Drama/romance
- $29 million
-Distributor- Time Warner Company
-Producer- New Line Cinema.
Both films show different the different extremes of memory loss, both are also produced by New Line Cinema so it is likely that we will choose them as our distributor.
Friday 13th November 2014- today we had our third meeting were we analysed some film openings to help give us ideas for timings and font of titles. We also finalised our film producers and distributor, we decided on Runner Productions as the producer and New Line Cinema as the distributor.
Tuesday 17th November 2014- Today we divided up the various tasks we needed to complete during the process of planning and making our film. Some tasks we decided we would complete as a group or each do individually, we each have five tasks to complete along with the group and individual tasks.
Wednesday 18th November 2014- Today we continued with the process of planning our film.
Friday 13th November 2014- today we had our third meeting were we analysed some film openings to help give us ideas for timings and font of titles. We also finalised our film producers and distributor, we decided on Runner Productions as the producer and New Line Cinema as the distributor.
Tuesday 17th November 2014- Today we divided up the various tasks we needed to complete during the process of planning and making our film. Some tasks we decided we would complete as a group or each do individually, we each have five tasks to complete along with the group and individual tasks.
One of my tasks was to write the script that accompanied our film, so i wrote this in todays lesson.
Libby began to plan our storyboard using postet notes.
Katie wrote a props list of what we needed for our filming.
Wednesday 18th November 2014- Today we continued with the process of planning our film.
I completed my second task of producing a shooting scheduel of when and where we would film the shots and what kind of shots would be used.
Katie did some reaserch into different styles of music we could use and where they could fit in.
Libby continued with drawing and writing out story boards.
Thursday 19th November 2014- Today i began making the mooboard, using our original ideas and where we got inspiration from. I used screenshots from films and music videos to show where we got inspiration from.
Libby began doing titles research into different styles of writing and what would fit in with our genre and why.
Friday 20th November 2014- Today I continued developing our mood board using out original ideas from various films. We also prepared to film our titles on Monday so we didn't have to waste time preparing on Monday.
Libby continued researching into different styles and fonts for our film title.
Monday 24th November- As planned in our shooting schedule we filmed our titles today. We wrote them out letter by letter and filmed them. We decided to just write one word first and see how it looked when we began to edit it together. Through this we found that writing it our letter by letter wouldn't work so we decided to have Libby write the letter as we film it and then speed the footage up on premier. This worked much better however the writing wasn't very exciting so we so tested our a few different fonts on some scrap paper. Again we found that none of these were exciting enough so i suggested that my Mum who has more exciting writing should write them and I film them. We all agreed to try this so I went home and filmed these.
Tuesday 25th November- Today we looked at the footage I shot of my mum writing out the titles. We began trying out different ways in which we could present it when we realised that it looked really boring with just the writing. So we decided we would re shoot the titles once we had added in pictures, stickers and doodles into the background of the scrapbook, we thought this would make it more believable and realistic to someone's personal scrapbook.
Wednesday 26th November- Today we began decorating the scrapbook to make it more realistic. We also got some feedback from our teachers and various other students in our class to see what they thought of our film. When getting feedback from our teacher we discussed what the genre was, so we began to realised that it wasn't obvious. We originally wanted it to be mystery but from the feedback and looking at the titles and music we had planned to use, it was clear we needed to change it to a teen drama.
Thursday 27th November- We continued to decorate the scrapbook today and finalised how we wanted to present our titles. We chose to present them as 3D letters that we will place into the scrapbook. Katie and i continued to draw out our storyboard towards the end of the lesson. I also began the marketing campaign and finished our titles timeline.
Friday 28th November- Today we got everything ready to film on Saturday. We filled out a risk assessment, completed our storyboard and then recorded the voice over that will play over some of the footage. I also began to plan our marketing campaign.
Monday 1st December- We looked over our footage today and began to begin editing it together. We managed to add in the music and link some footage together. We are using Pro Premier to edit our film opening together.
Tuesday 2nd December- We are continuing to edit our footage together. We also discussed where we are going to put the titles within the film. Whilst filming we were sure to leave space in the shots so we could edit in the titles.
I stayed after school to continue editing.
Wednesday 3d December- today we continued to edit ready for our final deadline on Friday
Thursday 4th December- we completed the final edits to our first draft. We knew it needed lots of improvements and some footage was missing but we were pleased with our first draft.
I came back after school to complete editing for our first draft.
Friday 5th December- we sent our first draft to our teacher and began to receive feedback on our first draft.
Monday 8th December- Today we watched everyone's film opening draft and gave feedback on them, taking into consideration the genre, camera angles, acting, conventions, music. We gave them an overall score out of 60.
Tuesday 9th December- Today we received the feedback from the other classes about our film. Overall we are happy with our feedback, we mostly received good marks out of 60 and everyone gave some constructive criticism on how to improve our film for our final cut.
Wednesday 10th December- I blogged about our feedback today and in our group we discussed how we would improve our draft to make it the best we can for our final cut.
Thursday 11th December- As a group we edited in some more titles and began to think about what music we could use as the one we had chosen was too well known to use.
Friday 12th December- We continued to edit for our final cut today. I also blogged about the changes we were making to improve it.
Monday 15th December- As a group we looked through the lap chart to check we had completed everything, we found that we needed to complete our storyboard and blog about the genre conventions and then everything was completed.
Me and Libby filmed the storyboard and i began to edit it together. ]
Tuesday 16th December- I did some research into genre conventions of drama and then compared them to our film and what we had included before blogging about it.
I also came back after school to complete the final editing.
Wednesday 17th December- Today we sent our final draft to our teacher.
Individually we began to blog anything that we had missed along the way and anything extra we wanted.
Friday 20th November 2014- Today I continued developing our mood board using out original ideas from various films. We also prepared to film our titles on Monday so we didn't have to waste time preparing on Monday.
Libby continued researching into different styles and fonts for our film title.
Monday 24th November- As planned in our shooting schedule we filmed our titles today. We wrote them out letter by letter and filmed them. We decided to just write one word first and see how it looked when we began to edit it together. Through this we found that writing it our letter by letter wouldn't work so we decided to have Libby write the letter as we film it and then speed the footage up on premier. This worked much better however the writing wasn't very exciting so we so tested our a few different fonts on some scrap paper. Again we found that none of these were exciting enough so i suggested that my Mum who has more exciting writing should write them and I film them. We all agreed to try this so I went home and filmed these.
Tuesday 25th November- Today we looked at the footage I shot of my mum writing out the titles. We began trying out different ways in which we could present it when we realised that it looked really boring with just the writing. So we decided we would re shoot the titles once we had added in pictures, stickers and doodles into the background of the scrapbook, we thought this would make it more believable and realistic to someone's personal scrapbook.
Wednesday 26th November- Today we began decorating the scrapbook to make it more realistic. We also got some feedback from our teachers and various other students in our class to see what they thought of our film. When getting feedback from our teacher we discussed what the genre was, so we began to realised that it wasn't obvious. We originally wanted it to be mystery but from the feedback and looking at the titles and music we had planned to use, it was clear we needed to change it to a teen drama.
Thursday 27th November- We continued to decorate the scrapbook today and finalised how we wanted to present our titles. We chose to present them as 3D letters that we will place into the scrapbook. Katie and i continued to draw out our storyboard towards the end of the lesson. I also began the marketing campaign and finished our titles timeline.
Friday 28th November- Today we got everything ready to film on Saturday. We filled out a risk assessment, completed our storyboard and then recorded the voice over that will play over some of the footage. I also began to plan our marketing campaign.
Monday 1st December- We looked over our footage today and began to begin editing it together. We managed to add in the music and link some footage together. We are using Pro Premier to edit our film opening together.
Tuesday 2nd December- We are continuing to edit our footage together. We also discussed where we are going to put the titles within the film. Whilst filming we were sure to leave space in the shots so we could edit in the titles.
I stayed after school to continue editing.
Wednesday 3d December- today we continued to edit ready for our final deadline on Friday
Thursday 4th December- we completed the final edits to our first draft. We knew it needed lots of improvements and some footage was missing but we were pleased with our first draft.
I came back after school to complete editing for our first draft.
Friday 5th December- we sent our first draft to our teacher and began to receive feedback on our first draft.
Monday 8th December- Today we watched everyone's film opening draft and gave feedback on them, taking into consideration the genre, camera angles, acting, conventions, music. We gave them an overall score out of 60.
Tuesday 9th December- Today we received the feedback from the other classes about our film. Overall we are happy with our feedback, we mostly received good marks out of 60 and everyone gave some constructive criticism on how to improve our film for our final cut.
Wednesday 10th December- I blogged about our feedback today and in our group we discussed how we would improve our draft to make it the best we can for our final cut.
Thursday 11th December- As a group we edited in some more titles and began to think about what music we could use as the one we had chosen was too well known to use.
Friday 12th December- We continued to edit for our final cut today. I also blogged about the changes we were making to improve it.
Monday 15th December- As a group we looked through the lap chart to check we had completed everything, we found that we needed to complete our storyboard and blog about the genre conventions and then everything was completed.
Me and Libby filmed the storyboard and i began to edit it together. ]
Tuesday 16th December- I did some research into genre conventions of drama and then compared them to our film and what we had included before blogging about it.
I also came back after school to complete the final editing.
Wednesday 17th December- Today we sent our final draft to our teacher.
Individually we began to blog anything that we had missed along the way and anything extra we wanted.
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