Diary Post 5: A day of filming

On Sunday (8th of February 2015) we went to Nonsuch Park to film the opening two minute scene of our film. We started to film around 11:30 am and finished around 3pm .We chose to film at Nonsuch purely because it was a lot easier to access and the area was a lot more familiar and better known to us. This is helpful because if we were needed to go back and film footage it will be easier to get there and back. 

We tried walking further into the woods for a while, until we found an area which was more abandoned and had dirt/muddy paths and lots of trees around with fallen leaves. This helped us set the scene but furthermore make our idea more realistic. Although the weather was sunny and bright, which we did not want, this enabled us to experiment with lighting, we used this to our advantage as if we were to actually film on a darker day it may have been view differently as it is now easier to out an effect on the footage and play around with the brightness and contrast. Whereas, if the raw footage was darker even if edited some areas might have come out highly contrasted restricting us in wanting to show and accentuate for example certain areas of the face. 

We spent the majority of the day in the woods, although we did set off our filming by shooting footage for the car scene of the two minute opening. In order to capture this effectively we filmed this on a quiet road which ensured us freedom of being able to shoot whatever we wanted but also from a variety of angles and as the road was not only quiet (helpful as it wasn't dangerous and we were not interrupted by other people or drivers) but wide with a few trees on each side (we were able to shoot from behind the trees). 

As Anna played the protagonist of our film, she were what we had planned during our research into costume designs. We had to ensure that through what she wore, we were able to appeal to the target audience and make it apparent that she was in fact a teenage girl. Anna wore a hoodie, with a white t-shirt underneath (which she had smeared mud on to), leggings and a pair of white converse (the attire of a stereotypical teenage girl). She did not only put mud on her clothes, she also put some on her face to help set the scenario and again remind the audience of what the lead character is and will be going through. Ellie and I, then filmed Anna running through the woods, we filmed the footage on our phones which have a HD feature, this helped as it made it appear a bit more professional and similarly helped because that way we both filmed more than enough footage with a variety of angles and ideas behind them. The variety of angles included some from behind trees, point of view shots, loose frames and including those which we practised in our preliminary tasks. Additionally, through carrying out the preliminary task I learnt that it is very important to get a lot of footage even when we think that we have the right amount as once we come to edit we will find that maybe some parts don't link as well as we were planning or aren't to the best standards or expectations. 

Overall, I believe that the hours we spent filming on Sunday were very successful and everything went well according to plan even when we had to compromise, as we managed to capture every shot including additional ones too . We can now go into the editing phase very well prepared. Although it wasn't as expected the weather did not hinder our filming progress or impacted the quality of any shots in any negative way. Throughout this post, I included behind the scene photographs to help envision everything that was explained above, perhaps in much more detail.

Script

• For the two minute opening of our film we decided that it will be most effective if we don't embed dialogue because this way the audience's main focus will be on the action itself and content of the film shown rather than what the characters are saying. 

• Additionally, as there will be no added dialogue we can use music and diegetic sound to our advantage to build up tension and suspense. For example, we would like to add diegetic sound of heavy breathing, screaming and crying from the protagonist. We would possibly like to add  a stereotypical evil laugh to connote that the villain's intensions will not change as he finds pleasure in his action. This will be portrayed in the flashback scene. 

• Other than the diegetic sounds that we will be controlling, we would like to also add some of those naturally created in a forest to contrast with the story line and what's going to happen. However, we would only like to add these at the very beginning, for example birds tweeting and the sound of the wind and sounds of running. We will decide what sounds we want the characters to make while we are filming, that way the sounds will be more natural and realistic rather than forced and will therefore, add to the tension that the audience will be feeling. 

• Furthermore, because our film has an element of mystery and crime to it we don't want too give too much away, only possibly giving hints of what will happen or even better let the audience interpret the opening two minutes in their own individual ways. We therefore, think that an ambiguous beginning will be very effective. 

Generic Thriller Conventions- Prezi presentation

• While creating our two minute opening of our film (which the chosen genre is a Thriller), we need to make sure that it appeals correctly to a thriller genre and the targeted audience and in order to fit within these conventions our two minute opening needs to manage to captivate the audience and this is why I created this presentation on Prezi. 

• A suggestion of how we can do this is by using the right type of music and quick pace shots, using a variety of angles. We are planning on using a flashback scene, as we believe that this will keep the audience anxious and wondering what will happen and why the girl is running through the woods in the first place. We would also like to create tension and suspense through the use of tense and fast pace music. By also using diegetic sound such as heavy breathing or possibly the screams of the character it will give it a more realistic feel and therefore allow the audience members to empathise, sympathise or even identify with the character by feeling that they can understand the situation she is in or that they even may have felt similar feelings in different situations they have found themselves in. In order for our plans to work out effectively the music needs to progressively get louder throughout the opening two minutes of our film.

• To create more dim lighting without it being too dark we are planning on shooting on a day where the sky is quite cloudy and has hints of grey, therefore adding more drama and mystery to the scenes but still allowing us to see the character fully and in a lot of detail. We are planning on shooting on a cloudy day because although we would like to maybe have more control over the lighting in our two  minute opening, unfortunately we don't have the equipment that film companies may have while shooting a full film. 

• We would like to have quick cut shots between certain shots, such as when the girl is running and when the car is driving with quicker speed towards her. We would furthermore, like in some parts of the opening two minutes for these to get quicker and quicker to create suspense. This is because the audience will wonder what will happen next. While having these quick cut shots will be effective, we need to ensure that they are smoothly edited to make the opening two minutes fluid in order to enhance the suspense that the audience will be feeling. We would also like to have a variety of shots to help the audience see things from a variety of perspectives but also through the use of imagery. We would like the shots that will be included to be those of loose frames, close ups, extreme close ups and low angles. These will all help with the disorientation of the film and scenes. The low angles are very effective as they give a sense of speeded motion and also give a sense of confusion to the viewer and powerlessness within the action of a scene. 

Black Swan: Two minute opening analysis

Black Swan is a Drama, Mystery Thriller (2010) which is about a ballet who is given the lead role in 'Swan Lake' of the delicate White Swan (Princess Odette). However, she slowly loses her mind because she becomes more and more like Odile, the Black Swan. 

In the two minute opening of the Black Swan we are firstly introduced to the institution company that made Black Swan, which in this case is Fox Searchlight Pictures. IT is always placed at the beginning to inform the audience that they played a role in the creation of this film. It is also helpful as they will most likely already have an established audience for creating other successful films within the Drama and/or Thriller genre, therefore attracting audience members to watch their newest creation. 

After the institution company, we are then shown the company which helped and participated with the creation but also funding of the film along side Fox Searchlight Pictures. This is Cross Creek Pictures and although they helped majorly (which is why they are included in the credits) with the production they are most likely shown second because they might not have contributed or may not be as well known in comparison to Fox. 



We are now given a second notice as audience members that Fox Searchlight and Cross Creek Pictures are the companies which created the film, reassuring them that if they enjoyed previous films similar to this they will most likely enjoy this film as well. In this part of the two minute opening, this is where we are firstly introduced to the music which is used. The song used, I believe is a song which even when first heard is easily associated with ballet. This enables the audience to want to watch the film as they are given a hint as to what the film is about even if they were not able to watch the trailer of the film.

The title then fades in from black and with the title of the film we hear a distant sound of laughter over the music. The title is placed in bold white font which shows a clear contrast against the black background. The bold font along with the black background could represent the strength and power, whereas the colour itself could connote purity and innocence. This will leave the audience questioning whether or not the film is going to involve good or evil as both are also suggested within the title. The distant laughter, does not last a long time but it is however, placed long enough to be noticed, as it stops abruptly just like the way it starts, the distant effect gives a sense of uncertainty as it raises questions such as 'Who is laughing?' or 'Why is the laughter so distant?' leaving them unable to jump to conclusions or scenarios in their head. 

From the black background, the image of a girl dressed in white and is dancing gradually fades in. She is presented dancing alone in a dark room, which makes it easier for her to stand out against the black surrounding her. Similarly, as suggested before, there is quite a bit of contrast in this shot. This is because the girl is dancing, what appears to be ballet which although requires a lot of strength is seen as the innocent dance connoting purity and vulnerability. There is a spotlight, shining on the girl which is lighting up the room, this helps bring a mysterious element to the film. The strength of characters dance however, could foreshadow her power or possibly the evil within her. The female character is shown in a long shot and her expressions are not clearly shown as I believe the intentions were for the audience to understand that sound or dialogue is not needed as it was quite a powerful seen either way due to the passion within the dancing. 


From a loose frame, we are then shown a close up of the ballet dancer's feet. This shot mainly shows, the elegance and control within every dance step she makes. These again may possibly appeal to certain female stereotypes as she is shown in a very feminine and vulnerable way. However, the stereotypes are also challenged because although she is shown as vulnerable also has a lot of control over what she is doing. 


This high angled shot of the dancer portrays her as vulnerable, mainly because she is being looked down upon by the audience members. Being seated on the floor suggests that she is perhaps weak and helpless not being able to defend herself if she was in a compromising or dangerous position. Other than the audience members, this could suggest that someone else is looking down at her. The shot then slightly zooms in closer to her connoting that this shot may be in fact a point of view shot and we as an audience are looking down at her. This is effective as it makes the audience feel as if they are a part of the scenario. 

As the opening two minutes of the Black Swan come to an end, a man dressed in very dark clothing approaches the female character from behind as she appears unaware of his presence, calmly yet elegantly sitting on the floor. The male character is portrayed with power and strength as he walks confidently, leading his body with his chest. The dark clothing he is wearing suggests that he is perhaps an evil character. As he comes from the dark, barely visible at first glance, this creates an air of mystery around him as it isn't completely clear to audience members where he came from. This is very effective as it leaves the audience worried, of what might happen as she is continuously unaware of his presence and he could even harm her without her being able to effectively react. This scene again appeals to the stereotypes of a male character and conforms those of a female one as it suggests that the male character in this case is in control and has a lot more power in comparison to the female character.  

Practice Intertitles for our film

We created a practice inter titles short clip to see which ways would be most effective to include on our actual two minute opening of our film. We chose to use the colour themes of red and white as we believe the colour red links nicely with the thriller genre we chose for our film as the colour red has connotations of power, energy and more importantly in this case danger. The colour red in the case of the two minute opening of our film acts as a stimulant of blood for the target audience. For the mean time, we used the names of well known actors, possibly those we would like to use as a basis of the kind of characters we would like to include. However, once we know what people/actors we are going to use we will change the names of the actors included. Furthermore, we would like to use titles similar to these in our animatic storyboard, but, also in our final opening two minute piece.  The majority of the time the text is placed in the centre leaning mostly to the right as we would like the audience to focus on the action and the footage included and not get distracted by the text. However, for certain key things the text is placed in the centre of the page in the middle to direct the audiences attention towards these things. Such key facts are the production company, name of the film and the name of the distribution company.
In addition, we chose the colour white as it stands out and offers a great contrast in the colour themes. Although white connotes purity and cleanliness it also signifies safety which is why we chose to use it as it creates a straight forward view to the audience of how these both have very different meanings, not only with what they suggest but within the film as a whole. 

Preliminary Task

For my preliminary task, I worked with Anna and Seth. While carrying out this task I tried filming using as many camera/filming techniques and angles as possible. For example I tried using the 180 degree rule and shot reverse shot (mainly seen in the part where anna and seth are having a conversation). Unfortunately, some scenes are a bit jumpy when transitioning from scene to scene so I would like to that so it will better when I come to work on the two minute opening of our film. Furthermore, through this task I have come to realise that it is very important to have a lot more footage if when you think it might not be needed as some may be better than others and may be useful for helping setting the scene and making the story-line flow nicely and effectively. The Preliminary task helped me learn a lot of things which will be useful when we actually do come to film the two minute opening of our film, as by that time I will have hopefully had an opportunity to work on the skills which were possibly not as effective.

Animatic Storyboard with intertitles

We made this animatic storyboard to help us see what the outcome of the two minute opening of our film would be like. For the format of our animatic storyboard, we chose to draw pictures on whiteboards of our shots. We then edited them together using iMovie. While we were editing this we decided to add our inter titles on top as well as some sound effects and music to help create a realistic idea of what our film  would look like if we followed this as a guide/template. I believe this will be very helpful as when we actually go to film our opening 2 minutes we will known exactly what kind of footage, scenes we will need to shoot.