WELCOME, MODERATOR

Frederick Howe 1210

Claremont Fan Court School 64680

Welcome, moderator!

I am Frederick Howe 1210 and I worked with Oliver Macnaughton 1243 and Marcus Couling 1291.
I hope you enjoy my blog, which contains my work on my G321 Foundation Portfolio. The titles and openings of a fictional thriller film which we named Lights Out!. My preliminary exercise follows immediately underneath. 

Film Opening - Lights Out!

Here is the final draft of our movie opening. Enjoy!

Preliminary Task

We planned and filmed a Preliminary Movie in which Ollie is a son being told of by Marcus, his father and then things take a turn for the worse:

When filming our preliminary we used a tripod to ensure a stable camera and to stop the camera shaking when filming. Whilst filming we made sure we were following the guidelines (shown above), demonstrating an understanding of the new and different terms like shot reverse shot and the 180-degree rule. When we had finished filming we carefully picked out the clips that we wanted to use and edited them together to complete the film. We used a few sound effects and a bit of music at the end but we didn't need to modify the sound because when the sounds played there was no speaking. 

What I learned:

By doing this preliminary exercise I learnt many things. The first thing I learnt is that to make a steady film you need to use a tripod. If you don't use a tripod you get a very unstable recording and it looks really bad. I also leant about the effects of different camera angles. For example a low angled shot could connote sadness or doubt but then a high angled shot could connote happiness or heroism.

I didn't really learn anything new when it came to the editing side of things because I already know how to use iMovie but not very effectively. The one thing I did learn about iMovie is the ability to cancel out background noise and stabilise the unstable shots.

Editing

I spent a lot of time planning the order of the our scenes and the various different clips that we shot. As there were a lot of different clips the selection process was very lengthy. This is because when we were filming our movie we thought it to be a good idea to capture as many, almost too many, takes of each scene to make sure that we captured at least one good take.

I started the editing process using iMovie which proved very useful and effective. Unfortunately for me I have an obsession with perfection when it comes to editing movies and images. Therefore I decided to upgrade to Final Cut Pro X. It is a very similar software that offers a lot more to the editing process. I only downloaded a trial version of the software because I wanted to make sure that it was worth the £200 price tag, it is. I then transferred everything I had done on iMovie to my Final Cut Pro. I started by gathering every single clip we had filmed onto the software and cutting away the ones that I didn't want to use. Once I had done this I then put them into the correct order and started editing. 

As we didn't have any microphones or anything to record sound with precision the sound in the movie opening is very bad as all we had was the microphone on the camera. This proved the hardest thing with the editing as it was almost impossible to separate the background noise from the dialogue as it was all part the the recording. But I did the best that I could with what I had. I tried my best to reduce the background noise and enhance the dialogue but it was incredibly difficult. 

I added transitions and sound effects to create a more cinematic effect. I used a variety of transitions as our film opening was comprised of a lot of different clips in many locations. This proved very difficult as I am not an experienced editor so I found it very difficult to create smooth transitions. At the time of editing there were still a few things that hadn't been done that needed to be. For example recording voiceovers and sound effects. These hadn't been completed because of a lack of time before our deadline.  

I also used a variety of colour/film filters to create differentiate between different times. I used a darkened filter for certain flashbacks, a custom filter I made myself for the scenes within the detectives office and many others.

I faced many difficulties with the editing process for my movie opening mainly because of my inexperience when it comes to movie editing. I think that the hardest thing was the transitions. I found it incredibly tough to create smooth transitions between the different clips/scenes within the movie. The other main difficulty was a lack of content. When I had reached the final editing stages I realised a lack of sound and action within the opening. Therefore we decided to remove the initial audio of the detective and the wife having a conversation and completely replaced it with a single voiceover from the perspective of the detective. This worked really well to describe to the audience what was happening and gives an insight the the inner thoughts of the detective. It also helped us with the poor audio quality of the original dialouge as it gave us a chance to add in good audio that the audience can hear well and easily understand.

Filming

The filming of our movie opening was a very difficult process as our plot idea required an abandoned building which for some reasons we tried to created in our very busy school. Therefore most of our filming had to be done in the late evening after school hours.

Another challenge was the time period we decided to set it in. We decided to set our movie opening in the 1950s. This was very hard to create as our school is old but with many advancements to it, such as bright electric lights, fire alarms, modern fire extinguishers etc.

We filmed i tin many different locations within our school. As the cameraman I spent most of my days at school when walking from lessons looking around and noting in my head possible filming locations.

The first scene in the opening was filmed in a corridor just on the inside of our main school building. We planned the timing of this scene to perfection as there was almost no noise and no interruptions so this scene was very easy to film. The second scene was filmed in an office through the door and the end of the corridor which we see in the first scene. This second scene was very easy to film as I decided on a single position for the camera to stay in. Unfortunately the camera got knocked a bit in between filming two separate parts of the same scene and so there is a strange jump cut within the scene where the camera position has obviously changed.

Within the second scene there is a flashback showing two men walking down a set of stairs. This set of stairs is at the front of our schools main building. We got lucky when filming this scene as there is usually a steady flow of people coming in and out of the doors at the top of the stairs. I decided to put the camera in a central position to try and frame the shot at the same time as showing off the grandeur of the building.

The next scene is of the detective coming to the entrance of the asylum

Filming: Office Scene

Link for Office Scene Pinterest

As this was an integral scene in our movie opening we spent a lot of time working on dressing the set. We gathered all the props we needed and spent a good deal of time transporting them to our location and setting them up in the way that we wanted. As the lighting in the room wasn't amazing we used two sets of studio lights to help brighten the set. I think this worked really well, although it looks a bit unnatural, we were very lucky to have these lights at our disposal. Without them this scene would have been ruined by poor lighting.

Future Learn: Online Media Course

After being introduced to this amazing online course by my teacher in a lesson I thought that it would be a very good idea. It is a six week course that teaches you the ins and outs of filmmaking. I was very intrigued by this because I am still very new to this movie making stuff. I have always been interested in making movies but I have never given it a go until now and this online course is really helping me come to grips with all the news concepts that I am learning and how to become and great filmmaker.

Talk about how mike figgis provided several ideas about adapting ordinary things that a production team might have around the house to fit the film set when budgets were very limited. 

The most memorable part of the course that I did was 'The Mass of Men' short film. It was a short about an unemployed man whose kindness betrays him. From this I learned that it is very important to do as much of any outside filming you need to do first as you never know if the weather will get better or worse.

Mike Figgis also talks about how to deal with limitations to your budget and that it is important to choose locations wisely. For example find a location where there is enough space for the actors to act, the camera to film, the sound guys to capture the sound etc. 

Gabriel Gauchet talks about how a limited budget helps filmmakers create a more in depth film and helps them to focus on the minute details instead of big expensive sequences.

Turning a budget constraint in an advantage (the bus closing on him)

Gathering Props

We have spent the past couple of weeks gathering up all of the props that we need for our moving opening. We have used many different ways of gathering these props. We have purchased some of them, used things that we already own and we used the social networking site called Streetlife. This social networking site is used to communicate with people only in your local area. We think that our set will look very authentic due to the amount of care we have taken in gathering props.

PLANNING: Practice Shoot to Test camera angles and Panning

Attached to this post are four short videos that my group and I filmed to try and get an idea of how we were going to film a particular scene in our movie opening. In this scene we see Dennis Clifton (left) and his boss, Mr Grant (right) walking down a set of stairs in a flashback in which Dennis is handed a secret file. We did this practice shoot to ensure that we had chosen a good location and to save us a bit of time when it comes to actually filming this scene of our movie opening.

The first two clips are os us trying to experiment with a panning shot to begin this scene. We have since decided that we are not going to use these panning shots when it comes to filming the real thing as this is meant to be a very quick flashback sequence.

These two clips are a very rough run through of what we have decided to do when it comes to filming the real thing. If these two were edited together there would be a very quick cut from the top of the stairs of them walking away from the camera to the camera being at the bottom of the stairs and tracking slightly away from the stairs and the two actors.

Just so we didn't forget I took some pictures of the places in which we will put the camera to get the shots that we want.

DISTRIBUTION: MAKING SOCIAL MEDIA

To help distribute our movie opening project we have decided to create several social media accounts to give our soon to be audience a chance to learn more about the project and want we are trying to achieve. We have created a Twitter Page, Website, Instagram Account, Facebook page and movie poster. All these different social medias can be used in different ways. We can use Instagram to give the audience sneak peeks of the project and give them images of our progress. Twitter can be easily used to give regular updates to our audience and Facebook can be used to give long messages and news feeds that can offer the audience a more detailed account of the project and its progress.

Here is a screenshot of the first draft of the film website that I am creating on Photoshop.

Here is a screenshot of a Twitter Page that I have created. I have named it Media Studies as the name can be easily changed and as we don't have a name for our movie yet I thought that it would make it easier for us to keep track of. In the screenshot you can also see that I have posted our first tweet from this account. As you can only use a very small amount of characters I tried my best to summarise the purpose of the account.

Here is a screenshot of our Instagram Account and our first post. I chose for the first post to be the rough draft of our movie website before it is the only real thing that we have to post on social media to give our soon to be audience an idea of the time and effort we are putting into this project. Again, like the twitter account, it is called mediastudiescfc. This is because the username if very easy to change and we do not have a movie title at this moment in time.

PLANNING: Constructing Script & Story boards.

Today we spent an entire double period (nearly two whole hours) constructing our script. As there isn't much dialogue in our movie we thought that the parts where dialogue is needed we should put as much though and time into it as possible. After the two hours we finished and within that period we also named our characters and very nearly completed our full cast, we still need one more actor as one of the main parts within the movie opening.

Script for Office and Voiceovers:

Woman: Mr Bogart! I am terribly upset that it has been so long since you last contacted me!

Detective: Please Mrs Clifton calm down and take a seat. We have a lot to discuss

Mrs Clifton (Woman) takes seat

Detective: Look this is completely out of my league. I can’t be breaking into abandoned government facilities in the middle of nowhere with very little information! I usually deal with women who wonder where their husbands go at night!

Woman: I am paying you very good money to do this menial task so I expect some sort of evidence that my husband is still alive!

Detective: You have given me nothing but a location and a picture of your husband. That is not enough information to do a full investigation!!

Woman: If you need more information here you go.

Woman smacks the file down on the detective's desk

(flashback to husband and boss walking down mansion steps)

Dennis and a government agent walk down the stairs of the mansion.

Government agent: Here are the files. Make sure no one sees these, especially not anyone in your family.

Agent hands the files to Dennis

Dennis: I’ll try and hide them somewhere safe. (Dennis pauses for a second) Hey, what are actually in these files?

Government agent: Look, it’s not about what you know. It’s all about if the Commies know. Now look, it’s better you have them rather than let some sort of Russian spy get their hands on them. Make sure no one sees where you put them. Especially not anyone in your family!  Also, do not open them. Anyone who knows what’s in these files are in serious risk of being hurt or killed.

Dennis: Understood, sir

They salute and there’s a fade back into the “present day”.

Woman: I found this hidden in a secret compartment inside one of my husbands old briefcases.

Detective takes file and inspects it

Detective: (under his breath) Jesus Christ!

Detective puts file down and lights cigarette using match

Woman: This (tapping on the file) is proof that something very strange was going on with my husbands work and all I want is some answers.

Detective: I promise to find you some answers about your husband, but you have to understand that this very dangerous work. Tell you what up by 100 and you will get your answer.

Woman: (starts standing up to leave) Thank you Mr Bogart. If I have your word, you have my money.

Detective: You have my word.

Woman: Thank you. (leaves the office)

(takes puff of cigarette) Smoke fadeStoryboards

Storyboards:

We also spent a good portion of this lesson planning what storyboards to include and what shot we should draw out in the boxes. Here are our storyboards:

Here is a link to my Piktochart.