Padd Solutions

So today we finally finished drawing up our storyboards (Yay!). This means we finally have a pretty solid plan when it comes to filming our opening sequence. The storyboard includes the types of shot we hope to use as well as some of the sound effects we want included, so it provides us with a good guideline during the filming and editing process. Obviously the storyboard won't be follwoed religously due to many different factors that can change during filming and editing but this is the plan we hope to stick to as much as possible.

You can see the scans of the storyboard below!

Let's talk about a topic that is very important and extremely enjoyable, it's a major part of our project that we all look forward to with anticipation over weeks of building up. Yes, I am indeed talking about Health and Safety.

All jokes aside, Health and Safety is a pretty important aspect of our production because we have to acknowledge certain risks and consequences that may come with the filming of our production. We have to try and asses these risks beforehand so that we can prepare for them as best as we can. As a group we created a risk assessment sheet to look at all the problems that we may encounter along the way. This included things such as;

• Being caught by Wardens in a Royal park
• Falling whilst navigating certain terrain
• Getting fake blood in open wounds/eyes
• Setting up the set (Hammers, knives etc)

Even though we decided that all of these were fairly low risk it was still handy to point them out just so that we knew to be a bit more careful during filming.

That's enough Health and Safety for now I think  so I'll leave it there, although if you really do enjoy it, the scan of the risk assessment can be seen below!

Thanks

I decided to do a little research into the kind of target audience Flatline Pictures would reach out to should our film ever make it to full production.
Using the Peal & Dean Film Planner (http://business.pearlanddean.com/filmplanner) I was able to compare our film with others of similar of themes and from there gather data as to the age, sex and social class of our target audience. Using the films shown below I was able to get a rough idea of what our audience would be.



By using the film planner I was able to get a good idea for our target audience by assessing what audiences other similar films aim towards. Our film would hold most appeal to the 15-24 age bracket around the C1 social class, this is due to the film being a fairly simple plot compared to a political film for example that may attract a older A and B social class audience due to it's complexity. Our film would also appeal more to a male audience in my opinion.

This would most likely be down to the more graphic and action filled content of the film that appeals to a younger male audience compared to the factors that appeal to a female audience such as Romance and Comedy etc.

It's helpful looking at the target audiences of films similar to ours because it can influence the type of content we have in our film to suit the audience we want to be associated with so the research was very useful.

Thanks!

Before filming our Preliminary task we had to first develop a idea, this included thinking of a plot/storyline, planning when to use certain editing techniques and also creating a storyboard for the film. The storyboard included factors such as dialouge, costume and location and these were all important things to know before we started to film. For our location we chose to use the English corridor at School, this was mainly due to the fact that it was close and avalible at the time, our task didn't need to be a convincing piece of film but instead include various techniques so the actual location of the film was the not the most important aspect, this meant the English corridor was a suitable option because it was quiet, empty and avalible for us to use.


Although the filming went smoothly it was infact the second time we had filmed our task because the original film (different location), was wiped off the camera by someone else before we had the chance to back up the files on the MacBook's. This was a minor setback but still frustraiting. Apart from that we didn't face any other major problems, we did encounter a few small problems on Final Cut during the editing process but these were simply corrected and mainly down due to lack of knowledge of the program at that time.

As I've mentioned in previous post's I feel that although our Preliminary isn't a amazing spectacle, it still provides all the factors it is meant too such as continuity editing, shot-reverse-shot and match-on-action. As a film it is simple and effective and as group we were happy wih the final result although we acknowledged a few points that we thought could be improved if we done it again.

These points included improved costumes, better location, more dialouge and more variety of shots. All these factors would of been fairly simple to implement but due to time constraints and equipment restraints (e.g. only be able to use one camera) we didn't have the chance to include them in our film. All this means is that next time we will be better prepared and have more planning before we start so that we can produce a better film. I felt this experience was rewarding because it allowed us to get to grips with planning and actually making a film and this knowledge can now be used when we create our main film.

Thanks for reading!

Ethan

Here's a low quality version of our finished preliminary task, it contains some basic editing tecnqiues as well as a small simple soundtrack.



Our short film was about a man visiting his Doctor. Our main character is seen walking up a flight of stairs towards his office, this is accompanied by a simple non-diegetic score, we felt the music had a slight 'hospital like' feel to it so we decided to make use of it. As the man enters the office a match on action was used to create a feeling of continuity. Our  main character then shakes hands with the Doctor and the both sit down at the desk. At this point we used a dissolve transition in Final Cut to represent a passing of time.

Shot-reverse-shot was then used to show the brief conversation between the two characters. As the man enquires about his test results the shot cuts to outside of the office before you hear what the doctor says. THis hopefully creates a question in the audiences mind as to what the Doctor had to say. The camera then starts to move away from the main focal point and the shot then slowly fades to black.

I think that the film demonstrates all the required specifications fairly well and the plot is simple enough to be understood by everyone. This version of the film is very low quality due to time constraints when exporting it but hopefully we will upload a higher quality version soon!

Thanks

Ethan

Last week we had to refilm our preliminary task due to the HD camera being completley wiped(Nobel prize for whoever was responsible!) so this meant we had to search for a new location to film due to our old one being occupied. We finally decided on a location and began filming.















We used different techniques while editing, such as the pen tool to cut the clips into sections, dissolve effects and also a tool that allowed us to fade to black. These tools were very helpful because they allowed us to edit our film very easily and quickly to create the desired effect we wanted. We then used GarageBand to create a simple soundtrack to accompany the footage.















So our preliminary task is now complete and I'll upload it soon, so keep checking back for more updates!

Thanks

Ethan

Shrooms is a 2007 film by Paddy Breathnatch; it’s a Horror/Thriller about a group of American students who travel to Ireland in search of hallucinogens. They travel to a forest in search of psilocybin mushrooms referred to as ‘Shrooms’, with their Irish tour guide, who from the opening sequence we learn is the main characters love interest. The film opens with a camera following a girl running through some foggy woods; the camera follows the girl at pace creating a feeling of panic. There is diegetic sound of the girl breathing heavily as she runs, but it is combined with non-diegetic music of chords which enhance the feeling of suspense and panic. The scene then cuts to a view of a ruined house, the following shots show blood over walls and what appears to be a dead human hand next to a pool of blood. The music continues as you see a hooded character and a character with a sack over their head, this creates a plot device for the audience because they don’t know who these characters are.

As the non-diegetic music goes into a dimuendo, the scene slowly fades to black. You are then shown the names for the two production companies in a blood red colour font, as this fades out you are then met with a change of setting. You see a ‘fasten your seatbelt’ sign and you can instantly recognise that this setting is a plane. As the shot focuses in on two girls (Tara & Lisa) sitting in their seats you see Tara looking through what appears to be a diary, there is a picture of her with a man. Lisa looks over and says she likes him, which the Tara denies. It becomes apparent to the audience very quickly that there is a love interest involved with this story, and you soon learn they are not just going to Ireland in search of Shrooms, but also pursuing Tara’s love interest. From the conversation between the girls you also establish some character traits of each one, Tara is more the nice girl type whereas Lisa comes off as the slightly more arrogant and malicious type.

From these first two minutes of the film we are given a fair amount of information. We are provided with plot device in the respect of the ‘scary house’ as well as the girl running in the forest, these two aspects of the opening sequence give us a indication as to the genre and type of film that is going to follow. We are then introduced to the two main characters; we are given a insight into their personalities and also the reasoning behind them going to the setting of the film. For the first two minutes of a film a lot of information is revealed compared to many other films that try to leave the audience questioning what is going to happen. This still happens in Shrooms but slightly more information is introduced than usual and this could be criticised because it doesn’t allow for much tension to be built and those types of factors are pivotal for a horror/thriller film. So in some respects the opening of Shrooms isn’t stereotypical because you are shown a lot in the initial sequence, but it doesn’t give away too much. I personally feel the opening is lacking because it doesn’t create enough tension because your shown the main ‘evil’ character in the first part and it ruins it to a degree although this underwhelming feeling is constant throughout the whole film.

A idea for our opening credit, still a work in progress.

So, erm, hi!

This week we've had a few technical difficulties this week involving the HD camera and the uploading of the Prelim task, so while these issues are being sorted we've been working on a few other bits such as; Idea development, Storyboard development, Group name ideas, practising with different bits of software etc.

We've finally settled on a group name and I will update the blog soon with the announcement and hopefully a logo!

Few pics from this week: