Storyboard

Here's the storyboard that Patrycja did:

It looks very detailed and well thought out. I'm looking forward to using it during filming!

Radio Report Script 2

After recording the script using the camera myself, I uploaded the video's onto Premier Pro today. Patrycja and I then listened to the clips and discussed which ones to use:

Listening to first recordings of 'Radio Report', using Premier Pro

Having discussed, we realised that we needed to change the script as it didn't seem flow properly. This is shown in the following.

Firstly, we annotated it:

Amendments made to 'Radio Report'

Secondly, we made the changes in Microsoft Office Word:

Good evening, all you Londoner’s! I’m Dawn Cope and you’re listening to ‘Look out’ Radio’s 60-second news updates

Have you recently seen anything unusual?
We have reports of sightings in Oxford Street of a young female, early teens, wearing a ripped, blood stained, white night gown.
She is said to have marks across her face and skin, possibly abrasions or bruising.
She is also said to have long dark, matted hair.
If you believe you have seen this girl, or someone of a similar description, please do not hesitate, report immediately to your local Police Station and Lookout Radio…

Heading today’s 'More Money Than Sense' is Katie Price, who has recently bought a new 9 and a half thousand pound handbag and says it’s “a splash of cash for my little Princess”

Thirdly, I recorded it again and uploaded it to Premier Pro:

Listening to second recording of 'Radio Report', using Premier Pro

Hopefully we are done with editing the script!

Feedback appreciated, keep following thanks :)

Radio Report Script 1

I wanted to conduct research on Radio stations and how their reports or sentencing is crafted. So I listened to various clips on YouTube to get an understanding of how I should structure my own:

Radio News Reporting Project 5#
BBC THREE, 60 seconds news update 01

I have a better understanding of how Radio's construct their information. The presenters introduce themselves, the Radio station and can state the time, also advertising certain products and merchandise. However, as I'm intending to do a 60 second news update, I realise that the information needs to be said at a fast pace and must contain no waffle - sticking to the point and facts.
I've listened, watched and focused upon some more 60 second news updates, here's the links:

BBC THREE, 60 seconds news update 02
BBC THREE, 60 seconds news update 03
60 Seconds News Update
GT ONLINE, 60 Seconds News Update

Their introduction's are very brief and can state the time of update but don't always seem to because of the limited amount of time. The presenters pace of voice doesn't seem to really matter, as-long as they state all of the information given within the time limit. I think a presenter can have an accent, as-long as the information is clear for the listener. A slower pace may be used to allow listeners to process the information more. Also, I've noticed that the presenters pause in between stories - indicating each different update to the listener. I will need to create my own sound to announce the 60 second news update for the protagonist and our audience. I'm planning to do this using Logic Pro.

Here's the result:

Good evening, all you Londoner's! You're listening to 'Look out' Radio's 60 second news updates
I'm (NAME)
Have you recently seen anything unusual?
We have reports of sightings in Oxford Street of a young female, early teens, wearing a ripped, blood stained, white night gown.She is said to have marks across her face and shin, possibly abrasions or bruising.She is also said to have long dark matted hair.Unfortunately, we cannot give further details due to the lack of information received from members of the general public.
If you believe you have seen this girl, or someone of a similar description, please do not hesitate to get in contact with your local Police station and Lookout Radio...

Katie Price has recently bought a new 9 and a half thousand pound handbag and says "it's a splash of cash for my little Princess"

I wanted to immediately ascertain a rough time estimate and audience location within the first sentence. I wanted the audience to know that this was a 60 second update - as the normal music played and was interrupted a listener would need to be notified why or what it was interrupted by. Then beginning with the story I tried my best to decrease the waffle, getting straight to the point. By questioning the audience I intended to grasp their attention and intrigue, adding my own twist to the 60 second news update. I then moved on to Katie Price - at this point I intend the volume of the non-diagetic Radio to decrease through editing as the audience follow the protagonists reaction; closing our opening sequence.
I realise that this is only the 'skeleton' of the script and that it will be improved over time.

I have recorded multiple clips of this on camera and will edit it soon. I realise that this will most likely need improving and or tweaking to get it to a high standard and the best quality to make it a believable Radio for our audience.

Thanks for reading, hope the see some helpful feedback :)

Analysing Film Openings 5

North By North West film poster

I briefly watched North By North West's Opening Sequence because I admire Alfred Hitchcock's style and was intrigued by how he began this film especially as it has elements of the Thriller genre.

I really enjoyed watching the beginning as Hitchcock establishes the location immediately. I enjoyed the short animation before, in green, as the lines were drawn and smoothly transitioned through a fade effect to the reflection of traffic on a skyscraper. The audience understand that it is a city by targeting specific buildings, like sky scrapers, using the reflections on the windows to see ongoing traffic, targeting specific streets and vehicles i.e. America's notorious yellow taxi cabs, targeting busy crowds and specific people to display the hardship, busy and almost unkind atmosphere a city can be. I found this really insightful and an inspiration to start the film focusing on location first, especially as I would like to recreate a busy city atmosphere too.

I've been thinking that, to also target London and make it seem clearer, I could film on a rainy day - not only is it pathetic fallacy for a negative event or happening, but England's weather is notorious for rain.

Here's a BBC weather report

This would be a really interesting shot to take, to establish the location through a LS and window reiterating that the audience is watching, although I'm not sure if I would be able to because of the location and time it would take to travel would be very challenging. It might be too far fetched for our opening sequence at the moment but it's an interesting idea for an establishing shot.

I really want to included shots with London's red buses as it helps establish the location. I also would like to take shots of crowds holding umbrellas to help show that it is raining through the ms-en-scene even if the camera doesn't pick it up and to display the effect that nature has over man; helping create a realistic atmosphere.

However, I can't rely on the weather as it's unpredictable and we could waist valuable filming time. It would be ideal to film in the rain as the pathetic fallacy would be perfect, although not ideal filming conditions, I am willing to not film in the rain if it provides good filming that Patrycja could work with in editing.

Final Title for Opening Sequence

I found that the naming of our film wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Patrycja and I both wanted something that would fit with our story-line and would also go with the theme of ghosts. Yes, the element of revenge is heavily focused upon in our synopsis, however, we didn't want the title to be 'Revenge' as it would give away the main theme. I wanted to focus upon the fact that we have a ghost in our opening sequence. So, we both considered our own ideas for the title. This did take a while as we wanted to be very specific. I mean we wanted the title to provoke intrigue and suggest an element of suspense, whilst also using a font or graphic effect to set the pace for the audience and help them identify what our genre is and what our film will contain via the title. I came up with 'The Forgotten', as ghosts are people who have passed away and remain stuck in the world possibly for so long that society forgets them - it seems to be appropriate for our narrative, as our unnamed female ghost is trapped and is forgotten by society until the events within our opening sequence occur.

Concerning the look of our title we both wanted something edgy that seemed either unnatural or have an eerie sense when seen. Mulling over a selection of fonts from Patrycja's research on fonts we then decided to agree on this:

I really like the aesthetic of the title because it's, faded, smudged, has a broken glass effect on some letters, some splatter effects, seems used, dirty, seems unnaturally crafted, seems intimidating and gripping; provoking intrigue. I think it is perfect for our story-line, fitting the genre, the unnatural element in our film and really gives a feel that something isn't right, there is disequilibrium and a sense of impending doom for the audience.

We both wanted to use a black font colour and not red because that is associated with the Horror genre, also we enjoyed the look of the black because it gives an impression of something dark, mysterious, it gives our title an edge, adds intrigue and is used to create an inhuman eerie atmosphere.

I hope you've enjoyed my thoughts on this and our developments so far, thanks :)

Idea for our Opening sequence Title

My idea for the title of our opening sequence is 'The Forgotten'. I thought this would be good because I think a ghost is forgotten and it really relates to our film.
I think it could have a ghostly effect, possibly looking like fog and then this could be enhanced in editing via the title blowing away with a non-diagetic exhale. The fog disappearing would reflect the title as the whole concept of forgetting something is that it's lost or gone. I'm interested in a non-diagetic exhale because it's a common sound that can make an atmosphere creepy or tense for an audience; which is what I think it would do when merged with our title.

I researched different effects for the title:

I really like the 'smoke' image as it could be adopted and changed to look like fog, we could base our effect on it and experiment with it if we want to use this type of effect for our title.

I also liked the pictures with a grey foggy shape over the screen. It would be quite interesting to fade the title into a shot using this because it would intrigue an audience and create a supernatural atmosphere; which is what we're aiming for.

Thanks, feedback and keep following :)

Name of Company

I wanted to have a production representing the Thriller-Horror genre, the name had to be something that reflects intense, suspenseful moments and unexpected events; notorious elements of the genre.

Patrycja thought the company could be called 'Unexpected Productions' because thats what a Thriller-Horror can be. However, I thought that would be too typical, as I think that's generally the first word that would come to mind about Thriller-Horrors.

I wanted to reflect something that a Thriller-Horror audience would feel or say when watching a suspenseful moment, possibly a character that has someone behind them who is about to attack? Suddenly, 'Look Out' came to mind, I discussed what I thought about it and why I thought it would be a good choice and we settled with it.

Patrycja experimented with different fonts and colours and we decided that our group name would look like this:

This layout was chosen baring in mind we have ghosts in our opening sequence and waned to reflect that with our production name. Also, this design immediately helps the audience identify that the film about to be seen is both scary and mysterious. I feel that this will draw the audience's intrigue and will make them want to find out what it is about.

Thanks please leave feedback :)

Group Meeting 3

We scrapped the college idea and the first script. This is because we realised that the transitions of scenes wouldn't necessarily make sense or fit. We want to make sure the idea is as simple as possible so we can build on it in greater detail. This new updated idea we hope will make the narrative more thrilling and intriguing the audience.

Hope you like it! 

Script 1 Outside College

I made the script for the scene when 'Jack' and 'Johnny' are walking together exiting the college, this was inspired by my research and I adopted the techniques used in those scripts.

EXT. A COLLEGE IN LONDON.PRESENT DAY.

JACK and JOHNNY leaving college and walking side by side, JACK is holding the camera and tripod.

JOHNNY:

(rubs hands together, blowing into them, looking at Jack)

Caw, it’s freezin’ init mate?

JACK:

Yeah, it’s well cold like…

(lifting camera and suggesting)

So we ready to film?

JOHNNY:

Yeah, yeah, sure mate, course.

(Smiles)

JACK:

Alrite then, so err we gotta take shots of architecture, where we gonna film?

JOHNNY:

Well…we can get to London easy, plus there's loads ov’ it there like

JACK:

(Smiles)

Oh yeah course mate, got ya’ oysta’?

JOHNNY:

(Smiles)

Yeah mate

Fades out

I wanted the characters to have a British cockney accent and I wanted the audience to see their friendly relationship.
We changed the relationship to a friendly one because having them as brothers was a bit too complicated and, generally speaking, brothers may not get along as much as friends do. Also, siblings can have very different interests to each other and don't necessarily choose the same subject. This choice of relationship was influenced by my Video Questionnaire - Characters

Just a quick update, thanks for reading, keep following, feedback is appreciated :)

Research on Script Layouts

This research on script layout helped me realise that a script is essentially for the actors and editors, it generally should not have a list of shots before the actual diagetic dialogue or any other sounds happening, it should skip to the dialogue to aid the actors and help the editors with where the sounds should go and should not have a list of shots before any action - the action should start immediately.

Here are some examples of script layouts that I have found and learnt from:

Usually, the location is addressed at the top of the script. For example, INT represents interior and EXT represents exterior. Following this will be the location of significance, KITCHEN, the area, CHESTER SQUARE, the city, LONDON, time period PRESENT and the time of day, MORNING. All of which establish the location and setting of the scene.  

Although, some scripts begin with FADE IN, this is aimed at the editor to direct where an effect may go. FADE IN's are a good way to transition through scenes as there is not that jump between scenes, creating a flowing narrative. However, this convention may be broken to immediately place the audience in a series of fast paced events.

Music is another beginning to a script and again directs the editor; this time with he type of sound - non-diagetic, MUSIC: THEME TO CRYING STORE...FADES AFTER FIRST ALAN JAMISON LINE. A voice over, V.O., may also be on a script. A voice over is an unseen commentator, who could be a narrator or protagonist, saying lines that are edited onto the clip.

It's even better when a script combines music and edited effects along with the actors cue, as the editor can grasp a clearer understanding of a task set; saving vital time as there is no need to discuss what the editor should do as they have been given specific directions.

Next the stage directions. Virtually in the title the - stage directions - direct the actors who are in position, they may also give a brief back-story to help an actor understand their characters situation. Stage directions can also take place during or after a characters line, this is called a cue, where a specific movement is allocated to a specific word, phrase or line - directing the actor.

A characters name is titled over their lines to help actors differentiate between who is speaking.

For example:

MARGARET

Too much. Much too much butter.

DENIS

I like butter.

Something else I've noticed is that the stage directions are separated from the dialogue. I think this is good because it won't confuse the actors between their lines and directions. It also makes a script look neater and more presentable.

I'm glad I've researched this because I understand more about how a script looks and understand the reasons to why things are used.

Please leave any helpful feedback so I can improve my understanding further thanks :)

Final Production Idea Step 5

Today Patrycja and I discussed the idea and realised it didn't make much sense, so we met with a colleague and had a discussion about the opening sequence.

I wrote a brief outline of our improved ideas during the discussion, here's what we came up with:

I have elaborated on the notes from above:
Should keep the shots of London - very good for establishing location...

• Need to intrigue audience

Could suggest that ghosts are everywhere

• Would have to have takes of same shot - different people/crowd - edit and overlap both, one as 'normal people' and one representing ghosts
• Could edit in questions ' what is real? who is real? what is not real? do you think you know who is around you?' - do not want to make like a trailer - possibly discard idea after next meeting
• Would create, through editing, a blurring of real people and ghosts...

Another shot, (same shot done in different time periods or different people around), one with normal crowd then one with female ghost - overlap and fade one clip onto another ghost can fade in and out
This raises questions for the audience - who is she? why is she here? why is she important? Which keeps audience engaged and thinking.

Cut to EST LS of college/school, in shot two guys together, MS holding a tripod and camera, TS diagetic dialogue "we need to film the different types of architecture of London", Reverse TS "Quick lets go oxford street before the others!" - they have been given an assignment to film architecture of london and need to finish filming for the following day. The audience are introduced to the main characters and are following their journey through this

Cut to shots of what they have filmed - in some shots ghost is captured reappearing and disappearing (filming - keep exact same shot with different crowds, editing - overlap), audience realise there is a connection between this Ghost and the boys - intrigued with what connection is - want to watch more.

Thanks for reading, feedback is appreciated :)

Roles

During our second group meeting we decided and discussed our roles.

Dawn:

Co-director

My understanding of my role~

I will be sharing the directing with Patrycja. We will work together with our ideas, merging them, assessing them etc. We will have regular group meetings on the ideas and developments to assess if our production process is flowing, what we need to change and what we need to improve on. Patrycja will be in charge of the audition process. I will be in charge of directing the actors whilst filming. During the making we will both aid each other with our roles; keeping check and making sure we are both OK with developments and or need support during the making.

Scriptwriter

My understanding of my role~

Concerning our production I will be writing the script for our opening sequence. It  will involve writing the dialogue for the actors involved and depending on the dialogue used will not involve shot types for the camera person - the storyboard helps with that. It can involve brief editing effects for the editor to help direct them.

Camera woman

My understanding of my role~

I will be in charge of  the equipment, tripod, camera and camera charger and will film the clips for our opening sequence, passing them on to the editor. I must be ready for weather conditions, prepared to be filming for long periods of time and ready to take spontaneous, unplanned shots that could be interesting for the opening sequence.
I think this role plays crucial part as I will be getting the material, shots, for Patrycja to piece together as the editor. Without a camera person there would be no editor.

Sound

My understanding of my role~

I will be creating non-diagetic sound for the opening sequence to be added onto the clips by Patrycja.


Patrycja:

Co-director


Storyboard maker

Editor

I'm really looking forward to getting started!

Thanks for reading :)

Group meeting 2

During the storyboard making we realised as the characters are walking side by side, we need to keep the 180 degree rule in mind. We can't do OTSS shot with the characters walking side by side without great difficulty. We thought the we could just do MS Two shot's, slightly angled on one particular character when diagetic dialogue occurs and when the other is speaking we could have the camera on the other side; so basically a shot reverse shot (SRS). The camera could purposely be a bit shaky to exemplify their pace of walking and help the audience feel as though they are walking with the characters.

Final Production Idea Step 4

Here's my idea of how the beginning will look after the first meeting:

I've written it down incase the picture is not as clear:

• Est location - ms-en-scene, shots of underground trains, feet entering and exiting train, cars, buses, traffic lights, people crowds
• fast paced cuts and editing, interpretation busy London life, own non-diagetic music - with some recorded sounds (beeping etc) - increasing - busy, tense, overwhelming
• sudden silence - cut to LA LS - focussed on ghost - slow motion edit, non-diagetic whisper "I can see you"
• LA LS shot increases speed, non-diagetic distorted sounds adding; footsteps, marching, running, ringing, talking (etc)
• "I can see you" dominant sound - as set in city is creepy because Ghost can be anywhere - audience
• Cut to LS of Pro...walking towards camera (audience follow him in shot - tension built up)
• looks into camera "ahh it's recording!"
• Calls over brother - camera in POV facing feet and walking
• dialogue exchange about wanting to watch what's been recorded as no-one knows what's on it
• cut to recording, non-diagetic "lets fast forward, I don't want to waist time"
• non-diagetic "what was that?" "rewind, rewind"clip normal speed
• Ghost in recording
• Non-diagetic crying, girl upset, angry, violent, shouting etc

I wanted to re-create a modern, urban, busy London atmosphere for the audience to relate to. Beginning the film with the location, a densely populated area, and modern time period communicates to the audience where they are, and what kind of film they are going to be watching.
The fast paced cuts are designed to enhance the busy atmosphere and to keep the audience attracted to events on the screen.
I wanted the audience to feel intimidated by the ghost and non-diagetic "I can see you", with the cutting of sound and slow motion editing, this would force the audience to focus on the ghost; hopefully creating an uncomfortable atmosphere. The appearing of this Ghost would immediately prompt the audience to question who she is, why she is there and what is her role in the film as a whole; acting as a narrative hook.
I then wanted to use the same sounds of London but distort them in editing to display that something is wrong, suggesting that the ghost is the cause. Immediately cutting to the Protagonist, I wanted to introduce him in a LS - walking up to the camera, again creating suspense like the Ghost - possibly hinting a connection to the audience. I wanted the audience to, as conventions of an opening sequence, be intrigued by the characters and keep that intrigue by not giving away too much information. I finally chose to have the ghost involved with the characters, through their recording on the camera, inspired by Paranormal Activity, to again intrigue the audience as to why she is targeting them.

I'm going to explain this idea to Patrycja tomorrow and we will see where to go from there - whether we like it and keep it or change it. This is going to be fun!

Thank you for reading, any comments are welcome :)

 

Group Meeting 1

We had a great meeting today and I really enjoyed sharing our ideas. It was really interesting hearing about Patrycja's political Thriller idea, it's so absorbing.

After sharing ideas, we decided to use mine as a base and found that merging both ideas made a more interesting story-line  Like Patrycja's CCTV, we could use a similar angle and editing to make it look like CCTV - a high positioned PAN that's an long shot (LS) and doing a low angle (LA) with an exposure effect to make the brightness of the shot change and to turn to black and white, whilst also creating a sense of busyness in London for the audience. 

I will update with step 4 later today to try and explain what we have come up with, I hope it makes sense!

Thank you for reading and following :)

Research on Toderov's Narrative Theory

I researched diagrams of Toderov's narrative theory to help me understand via visuals, here's what I found:

Toderov suggests that narratives begin with equilibrium or  a status quo, where any potentially opposing forces are in balance - i.e the protagonist and the antagonist. This harmony is disrupted by an occurrence, causing disruption and a series of negative events to follow. These problems are solved in the climax/resolution and a new order is restored in the world of fiction.

He also suggested that the structure of conventional narratives are a follows:

• A state of equilibrium at the begining
• A disruption of this equilibrium by a type of action or event
• Recognition of the disruption
• Success or attempt at repairing the disruption
• A new equilibrium

This cycle continues like a loop hole. It reiterates that there is always something bad in the harmonious world, an antagonist, wishing to create discord. They are confronted and, conventionally, defeated by the protagonist who creates or restores order to the land or situation concerning. This narrative style also contains a sense that there are always consequences to an action, be it positive or negative.

I really enjoy this narrative theory and understand it very well. I appreciate that, although the theory's simple, it reflects everyday life in a way, making a narrative seem realistic and more human.

Feed back is welcome! Thanks :)

Final Production Idea Step 3

Hey everyone!
Here's what I think the characters should be like...

I did a quick brainstorm after the Questonnaire. Obviously a group meeting will help more as we will discuss this properly, depending on which idea we side with. I am looking forward to the group meeting which is scheduled to be on the 15th.

Thank you for following, comments are appreciated :)