Production Diary - Week 15

As it has just been Christmas, I haven't done much this week in terms of filming. However, I have planned that in the next week I will conduct my filming, with the location being free to use, as well as the actors to conduct the remaining scenes. In addition, this week I have got together the crops that are needed for certain scenes, such as the blood. Next week, hopefully I can post that the filming has been a success opposed to the constant setbacks which are ocurring.

Production Diary - Week 14

During this week, I was able to fit in one production day, where I was able to film the most important scenes in my movie, unfortunately not everything was filmed, which means over the Christmas break, which today is the last day of the term, I can do. I will be taking the Camera that I will use for filming home over the two week break, as well as a tripod which will help with the filming, such as keeping the camera stable. Hopefully, the break will allow me to spend more time capturing and filming the scenes needed to allow me to begin the editing process.

New updated Call Sheets

These are my updated call sheets, which show a change in date, to show what I posted last week about the situation that occurred which didn't allow me to conduct my filming. hopefully, over the next week and on the dates shown on the call sheet, I will be able to carry out the filming necessary to move on to the editing process.

Production Diary - Week 13

This week I managed to conduct some of my filming, however setbacks occurred which made me have to change the dates of m filming due to this error. This problem wasn't known to me at the time, but the date which I was conducting my filming was unavailable due to the location being too busy which would have been difficult to carry out the filming without any disturbances especially when the area would have been noisy and busy, which would cause distractions and noise/ conversations to be overheard. I have changed the dates of my filming to the following week which hopefully can mean it will be less busy and the filming can be conducted.

Production Diary - Week 12

This week I have been organising my call sheets for my production, which I will be carrying out this week as the call sheets show. My updates through these next few weeks will be focused around my filming as this is the most important task currently to get done. I have made sure that both the actors and the location will be free at that current time, which I have planned to carry out without any disturbances.

Call Sheets

Call Sheet 1:

This is my first call sheet I have created for my film; by looking at the different scenes I am filming on the first day, it is clear that I won't be doing this in order of how the film will go. For example, the first scene I will be filming is Scene 1: Act 1, which jumps straight to Scene 2: Act 1, without finishing the scene. This is because I wanted to get the scenes out the way which involved more speech, so I could view them and know which scenes need redoing due to errors, such as low sound. 

Call Sheet 2:
This will be the scenes I will shoot on my second day of filming; there are much less scenes to film, however, I left the longest, most dramatic scene to the last production day, as it would need more attention and would take the longest to film.

Production Diary - Week 11

This week I have spent my lessons in Media doing my Camera Test - this is to be my preliminary task, as well as to help me for my main task. For the Camera Test, I used similar shots and angles, as I would be using and have plan to use in my main production. In the following weeks, over the Christmas Holidays, I will be carry out the majority of my filming for my main production. The camera test was useful for me to fully understand how to use the Camcorder and cary out the angles I want, such as zoom. I will be using these shots to put together a camera test, which will demonstrate the use of the camera and my preliminary task.

Production Diary - Week 10

This week I got back to my coursework after sitting the Mock Exam. In the past week, I have started to look at the Video Camera I am going to be using for my Production - I have chosen a JVC HD 3 CCD Pro Camcorder.

I have been learning how to use the Camcorder and the functions of the camcorder to prepare me for my filming.  I decided on this Camcorder, as it produces great footage, from the use of the HD, as well as allows me to keep with my sequences from my story board, by the using of the cuts. The memory storage on the camera is good, as it uses memory cards, and with two memory card slots, means that I don't have to worry about running out of space or tape. In addition, it is a lot easier to transport the film clips onto the computer, ready for editing, as you will just remove the memory cards and place them into the computer.

Production Diary - Week 9

This week, I focused on the ideas for the soundtracks that I wanted to include in my short film. I spent some time, using Youtube, looking up 'Intense Music' and 'Scary Music', to get a range of ideas that I could potentially look at using for my short film. I found a producer on Youtube, called Bruno Correia - Youtube: Brunuhville music - He is a soundtrack producer that makes a variety of different music soundtracks, with no lyrics. I started having a look through his Youtube page, finding a variety of different soundtracks -  this was perfect, as this was exactly what I was looking for. The one soundtrack that stood out to me was 'The Eternal Forest'; after listening to it a few times, I decided on this soundtrack, it fitted with the type of music I needed and wanted for my film. I then went on to contacting him, in order to gain the permission to use his music. The screenshot shows the email conversation between us, with the only term of having to credit him as the composer of the music.

As well as this, I created and published the Actors who I will be casting in my film. In the following week, there I will have a break from publishing posts, as our A2 Media Class has a Mock Exam.

Chosen Soundtrack

'The Eternal Forest' by music composer BrunuhVille







All copyright goes to © BrunuhVille


When listening to the soundtrack, the music creates an eerie yet loving sound across to the audience. I feel as though the music within the soundtrack revolves around a love story that has been broken, or has a disturbance within it; this is suitable for my short film, as the disturbance is the girl, Alice, who causes the relationship between Zack and Isabelle to be shaken and broken. The feeling the soundtrack gives to the audience, it the feeling that I want my audience to gain from the film, as I want them to feel the love between each relationship, including the couple and the friendship, however, as it is a psychological thriller, the music meets with the conventions as the music is eerie too. The music being eerie, tells the audience that not all is what it seems and they know that the story will not have a happy ending - yet the point of having no happy ending, is the type of film my chosen target audience want to see, as a psychological thriller isn't like a romance where the people in love eventually get together, by instead about the thriller side of it and creating the chilling feeling amongst the audience. I feel as though this soundtrack would be perfect for my film, as it is not a direct feeling the audience gain from the music, but a mix of feelings, which is the aim I wanted for my film. 

My Actors....

For my film, I needed to cast 3 actors, 1 male and 2 females, to fit with the film I am producing. I have finally cast my actors and here they are below:

• Playing the Male role of Zack - Habib Salim
• Playing the Female role of Isabel - Ellie Laws
• Playing the Female role of Alice - Jade Townsend

Production Diary - Week 8

This week I felt I have been very productive to get to the stage I am at! I have finalised my script after editing my first draft - you can see the changes from looking at my first draft and second draft script posts. I have also focused on the name on my film, which you can tell after reading my posts, I have called my film DISTORT! I am very happy with the idea of my film, after having complications a few weeks ago, with having difficulties coming up with the whole storyline. I also produced a narrative structure, which shows how the idea of my film works, as well as creating storyboards and call sheets to the process I will go through completing my film.

Distort script - Second Draft

Distort Script by EllieLaws

Narrative Structure

Narrative Structure

Distort Script - First draft

Distort by EllieLaws

The name of my film is....

Definition of Distort:
To alter or misrepresent (facts, motive, etc)

This is a good name for my film as it is similar to the plot of the film, with facts being alters, making them untrue to create the manipulation.

Production Diary - Week 7

This week has been half term, where I have produced my full production notes, with them being uploaded onto my blog, as well as have the completed plans and ideas for my film, including the locations and props - this can all be seen in the Prezi labelled 'completed production notes'. I feel like this idea for my film will be good and hopefully will turn out the way I hope, as I begin to prepare for filming.

Completed production notes

Production Diary - Week 6

After having trouble with my idea with my film, I feel this week I have reached my final drafted idea which I published on my blog earlier this week. In the following week, I am going to look at creating my storyboard and script, which I hope to upload as soon as possible.

Beginning of Film idea

My beginning thoughts for my short film, were going to be about a missing girl returning 10 years later - although this would be a great film idea, I tried to follow the idea through, however came to some difficulties, especially in terms of actor, where I couldn't find anyone fitting the description or age range which I needed for my film. This would of included 2 parents, 1 sibling and the returning daughter.
I now have some more ideas of a film I would like to produce, which involves the life of a couple. This is an idea I would like to follow with, as I feel it will be much more productive for me, as well as being able to gain actors to play my roles. I will be following my idea, as well as completing production notes and writing what my idea is about in the following week, which will help start to begin my production.

What is my film about?

Changes of my film idea:

I have decided to make a short film focusing on the life of a couple - 1 male charactor and 1 female character. The film will focus on their relationship, showing the couple living together and being happy. The girls is approximately between 17-18, while the male is a little older around 21-22. The film will then introduce a female character who befriends the girlfriend and comes over for lunch with her at their home. The neighbour begins to manipulate the girlfriend over her boyfriend. Their relationship begins to fall a part. At the end the girl is seen running with blood down her. I have decided to make my film this way, as it gives me a chance to focus on the emotions of the character, the aim of a conventional psychiological thriller does. The film will show how the relationship changes, alongside the attitudes of the characters, leading to the murder!

Production Diary - Week 5

This week, I have come up with the main overview of my short film idea, looking at the life and emotions of a couple. I feel that expanding on this idea will make a good film, as it fits with the conventions and definition of what makes a psychological thriller, by focusing on the emotions of the characters. It will also show how a life event will change a character, in this case the female, where it will take her to the muder of her boyfriend. This week, I have also looked at the props I will need for my film, as well as listing the locations I intend to shoot at.

Locations

There are two locations that I will be using for my film:

• A house - where the majority of the short film will be held
• A dark pathway - the pathway is located in the middle of Homestall Road and a access rights for filming will not be needed as it is a private road for residence living there - so I have my own rights to it.

Props needed for film

Here is a list I created of all the props I needed:

• Fake blood - shop
• Knife - scene in film
• Tea set
• clothes - for the actors

Gone Girl (2014)

Gone Girl, was originally a psychological thriller novel written by Gillian Flynn (2010), to become a 2014 movie release, receiving positive reviews. I used the trailer in my blog as it is relevant to my research, by looking at old and recent films that meet a conventional psychological thriller, as well as possible examples of how my final production plot could be about.

Link for trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ym3LB010J0o 

Shutter Island (2009)

This is the Trailer for Shutter Island (2009). I wanted to show this as it is the film I will be using for my analysis, as it has many criteria which fits a conventional psychological thriller, which I can link to the theorists and readings I have studied. I believe this to be one of the best psychological thrillers I have watched due to the conventions used and the techniques, as well as it holds a massive twist in the plot. Unless you read the novel before hand - Shutter Island (Dennis Lehane), you won't predict the twist that happens.

Production Diary - Week 4

This week I spent time looking at a variety of different psychological thriller examples, which are seen on my blog from uploading the trailers. I wanted to focus on conventional psychological thrillers this week, to get an insight and compare the similarities and differences between them, such as the tone, music, lighting and so on. This was to help me prepare for producing the storyboard plan for my final production.

Edward Buscombe - The idea of genre in American Cinema

The Idea of Genre in the American Cinema, written by Edward Buscombe starts to look at what the term 'Genre' actually means. Buscombe produces three important question in the beginning paragraph of the article "Do genres in cinema really exist, and if so, can they be identified?", "What are the functions they fulfill?" and "How do specific genres originate or what causes them?" These three questions open the start to a detailed article, which looks at genres in American cinema, the idea around them and how you identify each film to fit in a specific genre. 

Looking at the History of genre criticism, Buscombe, started identifying genre in literature, which was first developed by Aristotle when looking at different techniques and subjects. Aristotle examined how he could find ways to separate out poetry "into a number of categories, such as tragedy, epic, lyric, etc." Aristotle's purpose was how each of these categories can then create ways to identify literature to fit, "what were the distinctive qualities of each distinctive kind", as a way to 'establish their relative importance.' From the idea Aristotle created, systems of rules were put in place, to distinguish each subject and analyse the 'precise styles and forms'. Through the sixteenth and seventeenth century, more and more theorists, extended on Aristotle's idea to find more categories to divide literature.  Each new category, had its own tone, form and subject-matter, which could link similar literature together to produce a "species" as it was known back then.

As Buscombe develops the article, he begins to look at 'platonic ideal' - forms meeting with the idea/ perfect ideas of what an object, subject or being was to be. He does this to look at different elements of the definition. He uses the Western movie genre as an example of American cinema. Using the theory of Wellek and Warren, Buscombe, quotes the two "Genre should be conceived, we think, as a grouping of literary works based, theoretically, upon both outer form (Structure) and inner form (purpose, subject, audience, etc.)".

Linking with what I know as 'Mise-en-scene', Buscombe notifies the criteria needed to identify the genre with what is presented on screen, such as the setting, the clothes, how male and female are presented and the various tools we see on stage. The noticed criteria we see on screen, can identify the subject of the movie and identify what the audience know it to be, to place it in a specific form.

Continuously throughout the Article, Buscombe, quotes and uses theories from other theorist, who have focused on the similar subject he is referring to. Throughout the article, with my understanding, I feel Buscombe is saying that without knowing the history of a film and the usual criteria used within the film, we would not know the genre, without being told. Through the years of Cinema, the audience is able to identify what a specific film has to meet to be fitted with a genre.

Rope (1948) Opening scene

This is the opening scene to Alfred Hitchcock's film, Rope, which I have been looking at this week. I wanted to show the opening scene of the film, as it is very different to most psychological thrillers that I have watched. This is because most psychological thrillers build up the story and tension in the film, before the situation takes place, in this case, the murder takes place of their friend David Kentley. The film starts with Opening credits, like many old films do; it allows us to establish the location of the film and where it will be held (New York). After the finishing of the Opening credits, the music changes in the background and makes the audience feel tension build, when the camera changes to zoom in on a window, from which it cuts and you see two men strangling a man. They make note of the equipment used (a thick rope), which is being used to murder to male victim. This is different to the conventional psychological thriller, as most conventional psychological thrillers, build up the story and the tension before the main plot of the story takes place.

Link for opening scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZ872FSDyns

Rope - Alfred Hitchcock Trailer

                                 

This is the official trailer to Alfred Hitchcock's Film, Rope, which I am going to watch this week. I will look at the conventions of Psychological thrillers and how they compare in this film.

Link to trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--T65WxZqR4

Production Diary - Week 3

This week I spent time researching on codes and conventions that link and define what makes a psychological thriller. As well as this, I looked at a range of different movies and books, that a range of different directors made and novelist wrote. This made me aware of the psychological thrillers that I want to focus on, which will also help me for analysing films later on.

6 posters of relevant Psychological thriller books

6 Posters of relevant psychological thrillers

Codes and Conventions

Production Diary - Week 2

This week we have looked at some theorist in class to prepare us for our analysis we will be writing about a film of our choice. This week my teacher gave me 3 different sources to look at; the first was an article written by Edward Buscombe 'The idea of genre in the American Cinema'; the second article was written by Andre Bazin 'What is Cinema?'; and the last source was to watch the film Rope directed by Alfred Hitchcock. I will be writing a short analysis on what I have learnt in each of these, as well as later on link them all together.

Short Films Research

For this task, I have researched short films, looking at psychological thrillers. I have chosen 3 examples to chose from and will be explaining why I have chosen each. For this task, I am using a website called Short Of The Week (www.shortoftheweek.com), as it has a selection of different lengths short films.

THE OFFERING:

The offering is a 7 Minute film about a father and son driving along a dark country road, when you soon catch on by their actions and the speech that they are up to something, but are unclear to what is happening. The two are headed into the deep woods, but have forgotten a crucial element for what they're up to. 

The reason I have chosen this film first of all, is due to the timescale. The short film is 7 minutes long, which is a similar length to the length of film I will be production for my final production (3-5 minutes long). The Offering is a good example of an old country-style thriller, using conventions of the old truck, the dark country road, the cold weather and the dark woods. The lighting used in the film focusing on the characters, making the surroundings very dark and the features of the men darker too. This made me like the film more, as it focuses on how the genre is meant to be, making the audience feel different emotions. Overall, I think this was a good example to use, as it fitted with the genre well, meeting with the conventions required, as well being a good, intense thriller for the same length of time it was, being the unknown at the end, which makes a good psychological thriller. 

http://www.shortoftheweek.com/2014/09/05/the-offering/

INSIDE:

Similarly to the first film above, this short film is 8 minutes long, another beneficial short film which is linked to how my final production will be like - its an advantage to see how you can get so much into so little time, rather than looking at a 20-30minute short movie. This film looks at more of the psychological part, where the short film revolves around a doctor working in a asylum and dealing with a patient who hears many different voice in his head. The film shows how the patient is dealing with many psychological issues; this is shown through the camera angles used - many high angle shots to make him look vulnerable and out of control in his life. As well as this, they use mise-en-scene, which gives the film a real psychological feel, showing the patient in a white-pillowed room, wearing a white red robe. The body language and actions of the patient reflect well on how a psychological patient in an asylum is known to be like (stereotype), making the short film interested and well scripted. Through the film, you see the patient and how he is dealing with his psychological issues, such as the way he changes his voice and action to suit the different people stuck inside his head and controlling him. This short film was good to look at, as I was able to look at the psychological perspective of a psychological thriller. 

http://www.shortoftheweek.com/2007/10/28/inside/

PICNIC:

This thriller is a few minutes longer than the other two short films, of 12 minutes long. Although this short film is a lot longer than the planned time I am going to be doing, I thought it would be a good idea to look at a longer length film of around this time. This enabled me to see the different ideas that come up, the pace of the short film and how much they managed to do before their time was up. I thought this film was interesting as it looked at a family who went to the woods where the wife used to go as a child, with her parents. I was attracted to this film, as it was much lighter than the other two short films. The other movies were set in a dark location or at night, whereas this movie was set in the day, with the sun shining and a family being happy together. This brings out a happy emotion to the audience, opposed to the intense feeling achieved from the beginning in the first two. When watching, this film felt different as it has a narrator opposed to the family speaking all the time. The narrator is telling the audience about what the family do not know, giving a contrasting feel from the voice, to the scene of sunshine and happiness to the family. This doesn't prepare the audience for the story that can come from this. This film is also a Spanish film, so I am able to get a contrast between what different countries thrillers are like, opposed to just looking at UK and USA films. 

http://www.shortoftheweek.com/2013/06/25/picnic/ 

These 3 examples of short films were picked out of many I researched about, as they each were under 12 minutes long, which was beneficial to see how I would be able to produce a good short film in a small amount of time, in order to succeed and grab my audiences' attention in the way these 3 examples do. 

Introduction to A2

My A2 coursework will be focusing on Film, where I will be producing a film of approximately 3 minutes long. I personally enjoy psychological thrillers, so I will be focusing on this as my chosen genre, as feel as surrounding all my research around this genre. The reason why I have chosen this genre is because it is very interesting, bringing many different emotions from the audience, as well as the story lines being very captivating, which look at a variety of different ideas.

Production Diary - Week 1

This week was the beginning of getting organised into A2 and finding out what we was going to do for this year's course. This year we will be creating our own short films which will be approximately 5 minutes long (maximum time). For my coursework I will be focusing on psychological thrillers and will be researching films based on this genre, before creating my own.