Group Meeting 5

We had realised that we had forgotten to film the last shot of the character (the head of year) smiling vindictively at the computer, so we have to discuss how and when we can organise the location, permissions and shooting of the last scene. Hopefully we could film this part during the time where we can re shoot anything we need to improve on. The good thing is, we don't have to go to extreme lengths to obtain the office for filming, and get the actor (teacher) to take 5 minutes out of his time to film this very short last scene.

Group Meeting 4

In our fourth meeting we discussed possible filming times for the week. We needed to film whenever it suited our actors as they are the most important thing when filming. We also discussed who should go and get permission from actors and whose office would be suitable for filming in. We also went to ask teachers for tripods as this would ensure that the camera is steady, however there were none available so we decided to balance the camera whenever we could on books or boxes that would already be in the office. We needed to provide props as our actor did not have anything that would be suitable.

Preliminary Task Analysis

Preliminary Task Analysis



For our preliminary task, we had to create a short film, with the main focus being on continuity and editing the shots to create a smooth end result.

Our sequence was about a sixth form art student, who clearly has not spent enough time on his art homework, creating what he calls “a beautiful piece of abstract artwork”, insulting his art teacher in the process. As a consequence of his actions, his teacher ends up threatening to call his parents.

In our first scene, we used a tracking shot of the student walking down the stairs and to his art classroom. Using this shot creates a sense of suspicion and tension as we are wondering where he is going and what he is doing. We then used a mid shot to close up shot of the student walking through the classroom door. The audience becomes more familiar with the character and gets a sense of how is feeling at this point. We track the student fidgeting while he is walking through the classroom, showing his nervousness to the audience. He sits down and avoids eye contact with the teacher, prompting the teacher to create a very serious and tense atmosphere for him. We then see the teacher asking him if he knows why he has been asked to see her. He finds the whole situation comical and rudely replies “I don’t know, why don’t you tell me”. We then get to see an extreme close up of his “artwork”. The teacher then says that it is not good enough and threatens to call his parents. The student then becomes very scared and jumps off of his chair.

We encountered very small problems with this task as the camera had a very low battery and we resolved this problem by charging the camera while filming.

The editing was very quick and easy to do and smooth transitions were created.

Pitch Presentation Updated 4/12/09

Power Point to Go With the Pitch NEW

Group Meeting 3 - More solutions

Prior to a guest speaker coming in to present his short film and give us advice, we had asked about our recent problems involving flickering on the computer screen while filming. As it is more of a technical problem which may involve adjusting refreshing rates on the camera itself, it was out of our control. We had then thought of using Camtasia Studio to use for our first scene which would replace filming an actual screen.

This program can be download for a free 30 day trial, where it involves recording any onscreen activities. It also allows you to set the area which you want to record specifically, in our case, it would be the Facebook homepage as whole, and the Facebook chat window. We have already got footage of the girl typing while on Facebook which we can use to edit it in, in this scene.

We will attempt a test shoot to familiarize ourselves to the program and how to shoot the first scene overall.

This way, using Facebook will automatically inform the audience that this man is an online predetor. This would have not been so obvious if we had replaced the Facebook idea with a message being recieved on a mobile phone.

Updated Presentation to go with the Pitch (new opening ideas included)

Power Point to Go With the Pitch NEW

Group Meeting (minutes) 2 - Test shot and Solutions

Problems Encountered

While filming, we had used a laptop in our first scene. Upon viewing the footage once uploaded on the computer, we had realised the screen had been "flickering" as it was recorded by a camera causing the camera and laptop monitor to be out of sync (with frames per second refreshing at different rates).


Solutions

As this problem will always occur, we have decided to avoid filming a screen to show the two characters planning to meet. We will try to see if the same flickering affect still continues if a mobile phone screen was to be filmed rather than as computer screen. This will then show the message of where and when the two characters should meet would be recieved. This message will include the words "see you there" to show relevance to the title of the movie. We have also thought of an idea of a missing person poster being pinned to a tree in the park (where the two would meet). Here the camera would pan to the right to show the girl coming in to the park walking towards the black shed. From the changes made to the beginning of the opening, we will again update the presentation of the Pitch and also create new storyboards to go with the opening storyline.

Group Meeting (minutes) 1 - What was discussed & What had happened

During our first Group meeting we had appointed everyone their role in the film making process. Hasina- Camerawoman 1, Screenplay, Producer, Casting and Assistant Director 1. Komal - Camerawoman 2, Editor, Sound mixer and Assistant Director 2 Akash - Lighting, Assistant director 3, Sound mixer, Permissions and Electrics Yousif - Director, Location, Cameraman 3

Akash had made sure he had gained permission from possible cast members to provide acting and voice overs. He had also gained permission from Mr. Bailey who has allowed us to use his recording studio for the voice overs.

Hasina had devised a screenplay, while Yousif had been creating possible headlines used for the voice overs. Komal had been using GarageBand to come up with a rough idea of the backing music to be used in the film opening.

Problems Encountered

Akash had problems gaining permission from local policemen to lend themselves as actors in our opening. They had refused as they were not linked to our school. We then saw this as a 'blessing in disguise' as we had changed our opening and did not require policemen anymore.

The Updated Pitch Presentation

Power Point to Go With the Pitch NEW

Preliminary Task

Group Powerpoint For Pitch

Power Point to Go With the Pitch

Being a first draft, we had received feedback on our opening on how to improve and keep the suspense at a high level. In order to successfully work on feedback, we have made a few changes with the scenes and the opening overall. (An updated version will have been posted)

Thriller Questionnaire & Analysis

Thriller Movie Questionnaire