Monday, 30 November 2015

First day of filming

Today we did our first day of filming, the weather wasn't great as it gets dark very early however i think the rain helped with the mood of our shots. We filmed the following scenes today:

  • Train scenes
  • Street scene
  • Bathroom scene 
  • Packing scene
  • Old photograph scene (tears)
  • Emotional bedroom scenes (crying)
  • Piano music
Here are some photos we took while shooting the trailer....

First we filmed at Pewsey train station, the weather was wet but that didn't put us off! Here you can see filming close ups of Chrissy and a photo of the train that we filmed going past.

 Next here you can see the street scenes these were extremely dark so may have to be reshot depending on the outcome.
However we got some great shots of Chrissy running in the puddles.

 Below are photos from the scenes shot in my bedroom. We did some side angle shots and also a birds eye view shot.



 Finally this photo shows the scene in which we filmed the bathroom shots in which Chrissy had to swipe everything off the sink in anger.

 

Creating My Production Logo


    Here are some logos I especially like! I love their simplicity but also how these are very artistic.

                    
                   

Here are some initial logo ideas that I have created using the name 'Story Line Productions' this may not be the name I decide to use but I choose it as I needed a name in order to design the logo.







Sunday, 29 November 2015

Risk Assesment

Location
Train station: When filming at the train station we need to be careful especially because of the fast moving trains. Also the weather is likely to be rainy so the ground could be wet and slippery so we need to move with caution to ensure we don't fall onto the track. We also will have to cross the track over a bridge which contains many stairs, we have to walk very slowly to ensure we dontt slip as we will be carrying lots of equipment such as cameras and tripods. It could get very cold at the station so we will need to ensure our actress is warm enough. In the case that an injury did occur depending on the severity of the injury we could either take them back to my house (2 minutes walk) to seek appropriate treatment or take them to hospital in a serious case.

Kitchen: When filming in the kitchen I will warn Chrissy to be cautious when pouring from the kettle, however the water won't be boiled so it won't burn her. However I do have an Aga which can get very hot, so in the case the someone got burnt, I would run the burn under cold water assess the damage and continue accordingly. In the scene where Chrissy has to drop her phone, we will use a fake phone so that there was no smashed glass etc. This could be a danger to others.

Bedroom: While filming on the bed, if not being sensible someone could fall off and injure themselves, in order to prevent this we will make sure everyone is sting responsibly.

Car: When filming in the car we need to make sure the actors didn't push on any pedals, move the gearstick or the handbrake. This could be very dangerous if our actors didn't listen or weren't responsible, luckily when casting our actors we considered this. We will use special effects (SFX) such as fake rain, so may get wet, if this happens we will need to get changed into warm clothes after to ensure we didn't get too cold.

Motorway: This is the most dangerous location, it was above the M4. I will have to walk up a busy road to get to the location/bridge. I will take multiple torches to make sure I am well seen by cars to avoid accidents. I am going with a friend incase one of us got hurt, in this event we would have called the ambulance.

Street: We must be careful of both the cars and people on the high street, The road is busy and can be dangerous and the pavements are filled with people, in the case that someone got pushed into the road we would have called an ambulance.

Hospital: The risks of this location were more respecting others privacy and confidentiality in the hospital, we were not allowed to film other patients or staff at the hospital without their consent. Luckily for us we only wished to film Chrissy however we had to be patient when waiting for staff and patients to move out of the shots.

Bathroom: In the bathroom scene Chrissy has to throw objects so we made sure they were all plastic so couldn't hurt anyone.


Equipment

Cameras: Cameras can get damaged, in order to prevent this we need to carry our camera equipment safely. We must ensure the camera is not attached to the tripod when carrying it around and that the camera and equipment is not left lying on the floor as a trip hazard or to be damaged. Also when we are not filming we must make sure the lens caps are on so the lens do not get damaged. We will have two cameras when filming so this applies to both.

Tripod: When carrying around the tripod we must fold in the legs and carry it upright over our shoulders so it does not hit anyone. Also we must not leave the equipment on the floor as it is a trip hazard.

Lighting: We may use lighting so we need to be careful of that if used because if broken the lights will leave glass which is hazardous to everyone, also some lights can get very hot and set fire so we mustn't leave them on for long periods of time, or leave them lying around for people to trip over.

Saturday, 28 November 2015

Filming schedule

This is my filming schedule to help me plan my time and be organised when filming.


Casting

After a lot of thinking and discussion I have finally decided on the actors and actresses I wish to cast in my trailer. Below are character profiles of my chosen actors/actresses.

My actors - Luke (left) and Chrissy (right)




Chrissy Lightowler: Main protagonist


Chrissy is an 18 year old teen. She has her whole life ahead of her when she gets diagnosed with a degenerative brain disorder. Her personality is out going and charming however after her diagnosis she makes it her mission to conquer her world, be brave and fill her life with happiness despite coping with this awful disease. When escaping to a new life her personality changes as she has to hide her secret past from her new friends. She puts on a brave face to them to hide her emotional personality however when alone she is introverted and deeply scared by what might happen to her in the up and coming future. As her memory deteriorates every thing from her old life fades and she begins to become frustrated when she can no longer remember those back home, who are most important to her. This frustration turns to aggression and this will become evident to the audience at the end of the trailer.
Costume: Baggy clothes, hoody and tees etc. Big boots for puddle shot.
Make up: Neutral, running mascara and eye makeup in the crying shots.

Luke Shields: The Deuteragonist



Luke is 20 years old, he lives in a quiet town and owns a small flat. He has a small circle of friends who all play a huge part in his life. He has a small job from which he gets little pay, but works extremely hard. He enjoys hanging out with his friends. He is quite shy in social situations and will only open up when he feels he can really trust a person. This is why Chrissy lying about her secret past causes such a stir.

Costume: Hoody and jeans, simple outfit.


Friday, 27 November 2015

Music requests template

 Dear whomever this may concern,


We are writing to ask for permission to use ARTISTS song SONG NAME. We are A-level film student and as a part of our course work have to produce our own trailer which will last approximately 2-4 minutes. For this trailer we require a soundtrack and have decided your song SONG NAME is perfect for the use in our trailer, as we feel it truly reflects the themes and emotions explored throughout the trailer. The Trailer will be published on YouTube and we will credit the artist.


We hope to hear back from you soon. If you have any additional questions feel free to contact us on our emails; (include emails)


Kind Regards


Scarlet Ryan and Etty Stanely


St Johns Marlborough

Wednesday, 18 November 2015

Shot list

 
1. Long shot (tripod) - sitting opposite train track (establishing shot)
 2. Medium shot (tripod) - train shoots past
3. Production logo
4. Long shot (cut into 4 at the protagonist gets further away, camera stays stationary)
5. Close up shot
6. Close up tracking shot - shoes splashing in  puddles
7. Time lapse of motorway from above
8. Close up shot 
9. Point of view medium shot
10. Long shot birds eye view
11. Close up shot
12. Close up shot
13. Medium shot
14. Close up shot, on floor
15. Point of view medium shot
16, 17, 18, 19. Still shots progressively with camera getting further away
20. Medium shot
21. Medium shot
22. Medium shot, from behind
23. Close up shot, focusing on different features (sped up)
24. Close up shot
25. Medium shot
26. Close up shot
27. Credits


Tuesday, 17 November 2015

More soundtrack ideas

Here are some more soundtrack ideas which I can use in the climatic part of the trailer. When choosing soundtrack for this part I looked for something dramatic that builds tension.
 
Birdy covers Firestone (Kygo)

 
Birdy and Rhodes Let It All Go
 
 
Stay, Rihanna

 
Fix You, Instrumental
 
 
Broken Strings
 
 
Foxes covers Photograph (Ed Sheeran)
 
No Video to display
 
Raleigh Ritchie, Stronger Than Ever
 

Thursday, 12 November 2015

Final Story Board

This is my final story board for my film trailer. It has a variety of different shots and transitions. There are a few shots I may choose to add in, also I have decided to put the production logo after the 2nd shot (train blur).




Wednesday, 11 November 2015

Location

In this post I have started to think about where I would like to film, what kind of place would be suitable, and how easy is it to access. Below are some are initial ideas for locations i could use...

Train Scene

Pewsey Train station - I have chosen Pewsey train station as a possible location to film in because its easy to access as i live in the village, I can get hold of timetables so that we can schedule shooting out footage around the trains arrival, it will be easy to get our filming equipment and actors to the location. My only concern is that it may not look urban enough. However I'm sure with the right composition I can make the shot look like my vision that I intend it to look like.


OR

London Underground - My initial idea was to use the London underground as a location as it would make my shot look edgy and urban and this is exactly what I envisaged. However after thinking about this I have realised this would be tricky as my film is low budget and I cannot afford to get myself, Etty and our actors up to London for the day. Also transporting equipment could be a problem.


Hospital scene

Swindon hospital - For this scene I thought I would use Swindon hospital as my location as its the largest hospital that is close to me. Also it fits perfectly with the vision I have for the shots as I want bright white scenes, and I know these can be achieved in this location. My concerns are accessing and filming in the location and use of props. These are some things I need to think about before progressing.



Street scene

Bath - As bath is a beautiful town that is reasonably close for me to access I thought I would consider to as a location. Some things I need to think about are access to high regions in the street which can allow me to film at birds eye view and people. Bath is a bustling town filled with people, I need to make sure that they won't get in the way of filming.




OR

Marlborough High Street - Another idea for a street location is Marlborough High Street, this would be extremely easy to access as its where my sixth form is situated. This would mean I could do filming during the school day. This would be good as it would be easy for my actors (one of which attends St Johns and one which is an ex-St Johns student)to attend, also the Street would be much less busy during these times.


Script

The first part of our script is a voiceover of a doctor diagnosing our main protagonist with a degenerative brain disorder. We decided to include a voice over in order to help the audience understand why the main protagonist is running away and what illness she is suffering from (without giving too much away). Also after watching many trailers I realised voiceovers were used extremely frequently making the trailer far more effective and were often used out of sequence with the shots, this kept the trailer exiting and less like a film opening in which all the shots are in sequence.

Train station scene:

Girl is sat opposite side of the train track when a train speeds past.

Street scene:

Girl is walking away from the camera


Voiceover: Doctors Diagnosis

Doctor: Hi, Take a seat, I'm afraid we've got some bad news.... (long PAUSE) We have received your test results and they appear to show that the structure of your brain has become increasingly damaged. (PAUSE) We are unsure as to how long this has been going on for, however I'm afraid this will dramatically affect your ability to remember, understand and communicate. At the moment you are stable but unfortunately this stability will gradually decline.


[This voice over is to be read slowly, confidently and sympathetically over a sequence of four shots.]

Meeting scene: 

Girl stares at boy from behind him until boy notices and the pair make eye contact. They make further interactions while soundtrack continues so the dialogue appears muted.

Talking scene:
Girl and boy are engaged in conversation, again the soundtrack is still playing. Suddenly the girl clutches her head in pain and squints her eyes (this cuts to the following sequence of shots).

Hospital scene:

Elevator door opens and either a stretches or wheel chair rolls past the camera.

Car scene:

Girl and boy argue whilst sat in the front of a car ( pits raining and windscreen wipers are on) dramatic hand gestures are used and the couple shout. (Muted by the soundtrack which changes song/tone)

Bedroom scene:

Girl is frustrated she screams and pulls her hair and crystal frantically. A tear drop rolls from her cheek to her lips. After photograph shot she becomes increasingly angry and swipes all her work of her desk then crumbles into a heap on the floor punching the ground with her fists, rapidly at first but then the punching deteriorates and the shot fades to black.

Friday, 6 November 2015

Storyboard: First draft

Here is my First draft of my story board, I have included some shots which you can see in my initial shot ideas post. However I felt that those initial shot ideas were too sequential which made the trailer feel more like an opening. In this story board I have removed some shots mixing up the narrative slightly, I found by watching many trailers that most are out of order which makes it more exiting and gives less away and you are led to fill in the gaps with your imagination, this is extremely exiting and draws in the audience to watch the film! In this story board I also made the decision to use a voice over.            

Thursday, 5 November 2015

Initial shot ideas

Here is a mind map I have created that contains some initial ideas of what I would like the shots to be like and how they portray the storyline. This has also made me start to think about composition, shot types and casting as I am building up a better idea of what I envisage my trailer to be like.


Film Title

Forget Me Not


Titles usually link in some way to the films plot itself or in some cases link to a certain phrase or connotation from the film.

I have researched many words which may link to a certain phrase or connotation from the film in a previous blog post. I begun looking at words relating to love, memory, illness and runaway which are key themes in our storyline. I wanted to focus on the memory and our protagonists weakness.


After a lot of thinking we came up with the idea of the title 'Forget Me Not' as it clearly refers to the characters illness (dementia) while the link to the flower also gives connotations of beauty and weakness. The title also gives the impression that Dan (protagonists boyfriend) is speaking to her, possibly while she is in her hospital bed, almost pleading her not to forget who he is and the life they have together. This idea would be developed and shown properly throughout the film.


Also I thought that the symbol of the flower was a good link to use in the title as now we can use this symbol in our logos or other ancillary tasks.