Weekly Podcast 9

This is our 9th Podcast

In this I spoke about:

Updated Voice over

Title Research

 Sound Updates

SHOOT 5 Bad boy: Planning + Reflecting

Behind the scenes of the bad boy shoot

Shoot 5

How it went

Overall the shoot went very well. I didn't have anyone from my class to help me film and as I was in it, I directed my dad  and sister what to and how to film it. In the end he did quite well and got the shots I wanted although some of the shots could of been shot with better quality.  

Problems

When  filming the 'Badboy' scene I thought it would be better if we concentrated on the bad boy and not have any girls in the shoot as when I did this it was very hard to frame. It was also quite difficult finding the right location outside to get the shots focused on the character as we wanted him central of the shot. We also had a difficulty with the panning up shot as it didn't look very good as it was shaky. Also I wanted a shot of me driving off on my moped but it didn't work and needs to go to the garage. 

Organisation

When organising this shoot I decided that the 'batboy' needed to wear big boots with skinny plain jeans, a white t shirt and a leather jacket. (I have discussed the bad boys costume earlier on in my blog) This would connote the preferred reading to the audience about this character. I also used a roll of paper for a fake cigarette but set it on fire to get the smoke to make it look real. This also meant i had ashes i could flick off to make it look realistic.

Planning

This is a story board of the shots I did to help me organise and plan the scene. I did alter it a bit to fit with with the situation. 

MUSIC influences: Mickybo and me, Trick or treat, Tyrannosaur, Submarine

Sound/Music

Music inspiration and research

Micky Bo and Me 
In Micky Bo and Me, at the start of the film they use slow music that builds up as it goes along to create tension during the chase scene. They also use a voice over to give use extra information about the date, time and setting and also gives us exposition. We have taken inspiration from this and have applied this dynamic to our own film as we thought that this was a very effective technique of informing the audience of key exposition. 

Trick or Treat
In Trick or treat we get rock music, mainly consisting of electric guitars, straight when the film starts until 5:48 seconds into the film. We have taken inspiration from this and have added the song Born to be Wild as non diegetic music in the Bad boy scene. As in Trick or Treat the rock music signifies that the character is an outsider as he is a fan of this genre of music however it is not the norm to listen to rock music in American 80s High school. It also signifies that he is a rebel. However in our film this genre of music is not used to indicate that Brad is an outsider as he is quite the opposite, but it does denote that he is a rebel.

Tyrannosaur

Music is one of he main components that we will use from Tyrannosaur. It uses slow acoustic instrumental music to create a sad and calm atmosphere but in comparison ours will get faster and more upbeat when we transfer into the shop scene. In our film opening however we will also have music running over the top but it will be soft acoustic guitar to start off with but then getting more upbeat as it progresses helping to signify our romantic aspect of the narrative. There is also a voice over which we will do also as we can hear what they are thinking which helps the audience understand key aspects about the character and setting.

Submarine

Sound and music are also other key factors that Submarine has. It uses slow acoustic music to set the scene as calm and relaxing whilst also connoting the romantic genre of the film. We can tell this by if we used the commutation test and replaced it with rock music it would have a huge change in the effect, as the genre would then be signified as a horror much like in Trick or Treat. We are going to get this effect by having a slow acoustic at the start eventually building up into normal speed.

EDITING: examples of editing techniques

Examples of editing techniques 

In Mickybo and Me the editing into 

the first shot is very smooth as it 

cross-fades in. Also half of the titles

 are with a black background and the

 other half with the film playing. This 

creates narrative enigma and also 

creates tension.

The first shot we see cuts into the film in24 seconds. The camera angle is slightly 

dutch which signifies something isn't right which also connotes with the mise-en

 scene of a rifle that there is some idiocy involved with this character. The low resolution 

of the shot also denotes that a hand held camcorder is being used; the dutch angle 

also exaggerates this. 

SHOOT 3: Tiles research, Mickybo and me, Love actually

Examples of titles we have researched

The titles in Mickybo and Me are all very 

simple which is typical of a social realist

 film. It is also a sans serif font which signifies 

this further. The spacing in titles is also 

significant as they are irregular connoting 

childishness which fits with the film well.

Also this title by saying 'introducing' shows that it has new actors in it as typical social realist films don't have well known actors in them.

In Love Actually the shot then 

fades into the title page. This 

font and colour is significant 

because of it colour and boldness

 it signifies a romantic comedy. We

 can tell this as usually a different bright

 colour is used to connote comedy and

 the boldness and sans serif font signifies

 romance.

SHOOT 3 VOICE OVER: original voice over

The voce over we first used
For the first two rough cuts we have used the voice over from Submarine. This new voice over I wrote is influenced by the original whilst also introducing the characters and setting the scene. It will be used as anchorage. This indicates to the audience that Hollie is quirky and an individual as she prefers to read Jane Austin novels, whilst also hinting at the other twos personality as it hints that Harri is crazy and outgoing and Brad is popular and handsome. 

Most people see me as quiet, reserved, always with my head in a book, most usually a 19th century classic. Poppleton, my home town is just south of York, a tiny village surrounded by sheep and vast moorland. I like it here. I like the quiet. It's just like living in a Jane Austin novel. My name is Hollie Morris. My school however is a quite a contrast. My best friend Harri. Well, many would describe him as, flamboyant. Crazy. An individual, just like my self. Opposites attract you know. And finally Brad. What can I say about Brad. Well he's dreamy. Gorgeous. And way way out of my league. If only he'd notice me.

SHOOT 3 influences: American Werewolf in London

 Even though originally we were influenced by the extreme long shot scenery shots from Submarine, I then looked into other examples of extreme long shots of moorland in the opening sequence. I found examples of this in An American Werewolf In London. These shots contain many of the same shot types and framing as Submarine. We decided to base our own shots on these.

Submarine

An American Werewolf In London

The film American Werewolf in London also uses unusual framing, making the land take up nearly 4/5ths of the frame. This is what we would want to do but the opposite way around so the sky takes up the majority of the frame. 

Weekly Podcast 8

This is our 8th Podcast

In this we have said:
The Re-shooting of the Badboy Scene and why
Rough cut 2

ROUGH CUT: 3

Our third rough cut 

 In this we have altered:

• The titles by adding more and making the name of the recipient larger than their title. (I did this after research into titles in a previous blog) 
• We have tried to add a title but he font isn't right yet
• The scenery and bedroom shot have been cut down again
• Freeze frames have been put onto the characters faces and their name now appears introducing their character

CHARACTER NAMES

Why we have given the characters their names:
Harri- we have named the quirky character this as it isn't the typical way of spelling the name therefore denoting that he is an individual. 
Brad- brad is a very masculine name and many would associate it with a bad boy character, so his name hints at his characteristics.

Hollie- The name Hollie means someone who has a "deep inner desire for love and companionship" it also means someone who wants to "achieve peace and harmony" We felt that this is a basic summary of how we wanted the character to be. As she has a love interest in Brad and is a very peaceful and kind character this name fits her very well. 

SHOOT 3: Title research, ordering

The Ordering of titles

I found that there is a specific and correct way of ordering the titles within the main sequence, before this research I had no knowledge of the ordering and didn't think there was one. So this research has helped me to understand the basics and develop my knowledge of film openings. 

• The film first introduces the film production companies and main ident in this case Warner Bros
• Then the central (A-list actors) protagonists actors are introduced
• Then other key roles such as editing, casting, music and costume are introduced
• Then the producers 
• and finally the director who is introduced rather informally as this fits with the non-serious genre of a rom-com by the introduction 'Produced by' 

After looking on http://www.artofthetitle.com I found You've Got Mail's opening title sequence in this order.

I will now compare these to previous title researches and then use this sequence to help me order our titles. 

SHOOT 3: Titles research

Research
I also looked on artofthetitle.com. I found many different fonts used in title sequences

I really liked Fargo's font sequence as it like ours uses type over scenery as well as the interesting use of spacing between letters. I used this is our first rough cut.

These inspired me to try out different spacing between lines, words and letters.

In this I used spaces between letters

In this I used spaces between words

Again I used spaces between letters

In this I used spaces between the lines and words

However after analysis You've Got Mails tiles I also used their technique of making the name of the concerning person bold. Also You've Got Mail is a rom-com and their font used is very similar to ours, therefore this may signify that our film's genre is also a rom-com.

I made the concerning party's name bold to highlight their name

ROUGH CUT: 2

Second Rough Cut

Our second rough cut
In this we have made all titles the same font. 
Started to neaten out the shots by stabilising them and cutting out shaking sections. 
We have also added Ben's new bad boy scene.

SHOOT 3: Titles experiment planning

Titles

In an effort to try and help us to decide upon a font for our titles I used many different fonts in the rough cut so we could compare. However because each were in different shots we couldn't make a fair comparison. So next I will use one shot and use many different fonts on that one shot. I will also ask an audiences opinion on which font they prefer and why using a questionnaire. To find some different fonts I will look on a downloadable font website called Art deco due to their range of retro fonts which would fit our quirky main characters persona. 

SHOOT 5 Planning: story board and call sheet

This is the story board for the bad boy shoot

This is a story board of the shots I did to help me organise and plan the scene. 

I did alter it a bit to fit with with the situation.  We first get a close up of the Bad 

boys shoes slowly panning upwards revealing his cigarette. It then cuts out to a

 long shot revealing his moped and another close up on the cigarette to enhance

 the fact he is smoking. We then see him get on his bike and drive away.

 This is the call sheet for the badboy scene

This helped me to stick to a schedule which also helped with my time management. I knew exactly what I needed to do and when due to the call sheet, so this made sure I got all the shots I needed it the style that we needed. 

SHOOT 4: behind the scenes

This is a video  of behind the scenes of the classroom shoot. 
In this I tell Harri and Hollie what will happen in the scene and what  need them to do. Also in this Paige instructs Ben (Brad) and the other youths sitting around him to be rowdy and to use teen slang. Harry also does a practice take of him looking longingly at Hollie.