Typography Practice

As the main editor in the group I felt that it was important to practice my typography before we had even shot the film so that I could develop my understanding and skill on it. The reason for this is because I want to be able to achieve what ever effect we desire without wasting time learning to edit it. In this final title screen I felt that for a first attempt this was not to bad because it went in time with the non diegetic soundtrack and came in and out without any jujump cuts or bad editing. However I do think I could've used a variety of texts to make certain words stand out.

To make this I was going to use after effects but that crashed so I took the long route and used final cut's built in motion software.
Firstly I had to cut out Joe, which I'm supposed to use a mask for in after effects however that was unavailable so I just did it on photoshop using a freeze frame from the video.

Then I had to get a text. I spent a good forty minutes looking through texts because I wanted one that looked right and fitted the tone of my film. Before I chose the text I used I tried western fonts because I thought this title screen could be similar to 'The good the bad and the ugly' because of the use of red. However I decided to go down another root and looked at more modern texts.

To add some depth I used a grunge background to have my freeze frame on. Another thing I added was the smoke. I got this from an earlier film poster, which I made for this film. The text had to be made so that they interacted with each other this took a long time because I had to use lots of key frames.

Main Problems

Within the making of this film we are going to encounter a lot of problems along the way. One of the best ways I believe to tackle those problems is looking at them early on, this is why I have listed some of our initial problems with the film.

The first problem is a big one... actors. Although we only have about four characters but one splits into a possible two roles their age is a problem. The reason for this is our main protagonist is considerably older than any of the students or teachers at Chalfonts. The reason is because we want someone this age is because they have to look like a World War Two veteran. This is going to be very hard to find someone that age willing to act for free.
Our initial thoughts on this problem was to use grandparents from our families to act in it but this film is going to take up a lot of they're time so we decided that we needed a back up plan. A way around this is using the young actor as the older man as well by using makeup or a mask.

Another problem is to do with location such as the retirement home and the battlefield because these locations are specific and require a lot of aspects that have to be right. The battlefield for example can't have anything modern on  it within the shot because this would take the audience out of the time zone therefore ruining the film. To avoid this I made sure that the war scenes were medium or close ups so that not much of the background is seen. Another option is to have the flashbacks take place in a kind of cross over time zone where the young character is back in World War Two but this takes place in the current year. This would avoid the problem of the background however I don't think this would be as gripping as the first idea.

Lastly the visual effects, this isn't as much of a problem as the other two because I can just learn how to do them effectively. However I think it would be important to have some test shots for the visual effects and transitions because then we will have confidence in what we are doing.

How we intend to use Typography

Storyboard

In our opening sequence we have to include certain texts providing information about the people involved within the making of the film. I have started looking at some examples of opening title sequences before but now I believe that it is more important to narrow down my research to the ones that the group like. This is important because we origianlly wanted the text to be apart of the opening therefore we have to now look at our storyboard and decide on when and how our text appears on screen.

Our initial thoughts as a group were to have two different fonts which behaved differently depending on the scene they were in. For example in the scenes with the older protagonist we decided that it wouldn't work to have the 'jittery' text because these scenes are slower and sadder due to the character being overwhelmed with the flashback. In addition the 'jitteryness' wouldn't reflect the loneliness and shock the character is experiencing in these scene and would feel out of place therefore leading to the opening not working as a hole.

Another option was to keep the titles in just one part, for example just the jittery part of the opening. However this may cause the text to become repetitive and meaningless because the audience may overlook it. This is why I believe we should and use different fonts that behave differently.

Examples of openings we liked included:

• Batman TV series 
• Batman Dark Knight Rises
• Dr. No (James Bond)
• Dexter
• Vertigo 

(I will do a separate blog post on some of these.)

Updated Props List

Once we had completed our story board we realised that we needed to update our props list as parts of our story line had been adapted.

Updated props list

• WW2 Gun - For the main protagonist as a young man
• Modern Tap - For the close ups
• 1940s hose pipe - For boarding 
• 1940s bucket (Metal) - For water boarding
• Dog - For old man walking
• Dog leed - Old man walking
• Match - Close ups
• Wheel chair - End scene
• Belt Straps - End scene
• Cloth - Waterboarding 
• Bed 

To Do For Our Thriller Opening

To do, (and to blog) for our war time thriller opening, in no particular order:

1. Plot Overview
2. Story Board (NB- 180 degree rule storyboard needs to be completed too)
3. shot list
4. Filming Schedule
5. Risk Assessment
6. Copyright Issues (If any)
7. Anamatic
8. Test shots
9. Research of specific things (see previous post for what needs to be/ has been researched)
10. Actors Research
11. Further thought and depth into character
12. Research into PTSD
13. Decide on the titles part of our sequence

And then, obviously, the actual filming and editing.

Credit Mariella

StoryBoard For The WarFilm

 The Storyboard:

As a group we discussed what we wanted from our film and the style we were going for, however we hadn't yet though about what our shots and transitions were going to look like.
The first step was to create a storyboard, this is because a storyboard allows every member of the group to put their ideas forward and then have a visual representation of the film. Before diving in to this Mariella wrote up a brief story that we as a group had already discussed; explaining briefly what was going to happen in our story. Meanwhile Katy gathered locations and costume so that we knew what our characters would look like and the environment they would be placed in and I looked at examples of war thriller short films that could inspire us.

After those tasks were completed I was given the task of creating a storyboard that would represent our ideas best. To do this I made a storyboard template and printed four sheets so that we could have enough room for every shot. The reason I wanted to put so much work into the storyboard is because I feel that when you have a clearly laid out storyboard it's easier to organise the narrative creatively.

This task did take me a while because I put a lot of thought into every shot thinking about practicality as well as creativity. An example of this is on the last page shot three because I would of loved to have both characters in the same shot however we would have to use after effects, which in my experience isn't very reliable. Therefore I made it an OSS so that we could just have another actor instead of using masks etc.  Another aspect I put a lot of time into was transitions because I wanted to make sure that the narrative flowed well to set up the story, which would follow after our opening. Our aim overall aim was to upset the equilibrium without killing off any characters or changing the story. To achieve this we used flash backs to World War Two throughout our opening which would keep our audience gripped. 
  
In addition to this I also made sure that we had research on 'Waterboarding' because I wanted to make sure that the film was some what accurate to the time period we wanted the film to be set in. While doing this I kept messaging my group my concerns and ideas and made sure that they were contributing to the storyboard with their ideas. 

Lastly when it was done Mariella reminded me that we wanted a first person drowning scene that we added as a side note on page two. Overall I felt we worked well as a team on this one and I hope the film planned.

Shortfilms and Scenes.

 I looked this this short film because I though it had outstanding props and costume, which I felt is a very important aspect to a war film because it shows the audience the time period and which side your character is on. In addition some of the scenes were shot in a higher frame rate making the action more intense. I would like to adopt this technique because I felt it provided a more intense experience.

Another aspect I like was actually in the thumbnail. I loved the black and white tone in this photo and I might suggest that some of the war scenes are black and white because it would contrast to the other shots, which would be in colour.

 I also watched the iconic 'Saving Private Ryan' to get and idea of how Spielberg used the camera to create emotions such as fear and anger form the characters. I further looked at props to include in our film such as the guns and the types of visual effects like explosions form mines etc.
Both films shared the same war however it was shown in many different ways maybe because of a difference in storyline and budget. However both films used props well and created an interesting story through war.

What have I learnt?

While filming the 180º Rule task I understood how important it was to have a good storyboard because while filming it we quickly required more guidance than was on our storyboard. This was a problem because we were unsure when filming which lead to the film being slightly shorter than what we wanted to achieve. The reason it's so important to realise this now is because when we undershoot its a lot harder to create a pace as an editor because your very limited to the cuts you can make because certain shots have to be held for a certain amounts of time to create the tension required to grip the audience. To overcome this in the main project I will make sure we have not just a detailed storyboard but also a shot list with an animatic so that we can already have a set plan before our shoot. The animatic allows the pace to be set before the shoot allowing us to already know what the film is going to look like.

Another aspect that I picked up on was that our lighting and location wasn't the best. To make sure this doesn't happen again I am going to make sure we do test shots before the shoot to make sure that the location in mind actually achieves what we want in terms of lighting and sound. This helped me realise the importance of test shots, which we did do but I still think we should of taken notes about it and seen if there was any other options in terms of location.

Lastly I think that we should of practiced with my camera because before we used a phone, which was completely different to a DSLR. The reason I think this is important is because I don't think that the group was entirely comfortable with the cannon leading to the shots not to be the best. 

Overall I think that we gained loads of knowledge about filming as a group and will be more confident in filming our second project.

Inspiration

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTSVK8IcppA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82RTzi5Vt7w

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/railway-man-director-hopes-graphic-694867

180º Degree Re-Shoot.

This was the Re-Shoot for out 180º Rule video. The improvements were massive compared to the last shoot because we had better equipment, which allowed us to get more creative shots. When I edited this one I used much less colour correction however did place a luminance mask over the footage giving it a cinematic feel. Although the colour correction was less I feel that this film packed more punch when building tension compared to the last shoot. However I did change the last shot on the storyboard because the camera work wasn't stable enough to pull it off. I did try to use a smoothcam on it but it didn't work, so I just gave it a jittery feel because that's when the rule is broken.

Research Planning

Research Planning

Costumes needed to be researched

• WW2 Private man of war
• NHS modern day carer, either male or female
• Modern day normal clothes for an old man
• Bomber Jacket, preferably male for background symbolism

Locations

• Care home such as the bedroom, bathroom and living area
• Flat field area

Props

• Wheel chair
• WW2 gun (what type of gun would have been made and used within the era)
• Dog with dog lead

VFX

• Gunshot noises
• Plane flying overhead
• Explosions and Dust within the distance
• House explosions
• Jittery static movement between flashbacks and his normal everyday life

Age, Race and Class within WW2 films.

Age, Race and Class within WW2 films.

The first film that I found once doing this research was 'Age of Heroes' which is a true story based on the formation of Ian Fleming's 30 commando unit, a precursor for the elite forces within the U.K. and was released in 2011 at the running time of 90 minutes long. The age certificate on this film was a 15, meaning that there would be some references to stronger language, violent scenes; which are expected within a war film or mild sexual references.

The second film I found was 'Inglourious Basterds' which was based on Nazi occupied France during WW2, with the plan to assassinate Nazi leaders in a group of Jewish U.S soldiers. This filmed was given the age certificate of 18, this means that this film would involve high violent scenes which would most likely be extremely graphic which could scare younger viewers, as well as strong language would more than likely be used.

Credit Katy

Modern Day Costume

Modern day costumes research

The first outfit i had to research was a NHS carer outfit as our main persona that is a past private man of war will be based in a care home, so therefore we will need a carer so i decided to see what nurses/carers wear in this modern day and age. The first image i found was a woman that was wearing the basic plain blue shirt with white lines round the sleeves and collar, overall the outfit is very basic however very symbolic and recognisable.

The next outfit was what our main persona will be wearing the old man, therefore i decided to look up what a old man of our modern day and age stereotypically wears. What i found out is that they usually they wear some sort of knit wear and they wear very basic trousers or long skirts.

The last part of clothing that i had to research was a bomber jacket as it is symbolic of his younger life, which contrasts to his now lonely and isolated life as an older man. This is the typical bomber jacket of the world war time, it is made out of leather and has fur around the collar, typically a pilot would wear this.

Credit Katy

Basic Idea

Basic Idea For Our Thriller Opening

The main protagonist is going to be an old veteran who has war flashbacks while going about his everyday life.
The first flashback is going to be someone knocking on his door to wake him up, but he hears a gunshot.
The second is when he is washing his face and flashbacks to when his younger self is getting water torcher by drowning.
The third is when he is walking his dog on a field and he flashbacks to him running through  no mans land with his gun and explosions and planes.
The forth is when he's looking at a house on his walk back and someone turns a light on. He sees a flashback of a house exploding and goes to shield his face, before realising that he is in the present day and is safe.
The fifth and final flashback is when someone is helping him into a wheel chair, but he flashbacks and thinks that hes being shoved and restrained in the chair.
As the flashbacks go on he starts to blur the past with the present and doesn't know what it real, and what is memory. Also throughout the opening, not only does he go through the day but he ages a great deal as well. we are trying to get across that he has a very repetive life after the war and the experiences still take years of his life away, despite the actual experiences being over. The person who was helping him into the wheelchair comes round the front and sits in front of him. "Son", he says, *dramatic cut to black*, "Its time to tell you a story". This sets up the rest of the film, and lets the audience know what they are getting into.

Location research

Location research

The first location I started with was the care home, the first room I looked up was the bedroom as he will be mainly filmed in this room what I found out is that they are very basic and plain, usually with pastel colours. They also usually only have a chair/stool, TV, bed and bed side table, therefore they have a very simplistic way of living.

The next room I looked up was the bathroom, what I found out is that their bathrooms are suited especially for them such as a moving chair to help them in and out of the bath, as well as the shower. They also have pole/holders next to the toilet to help them get up and to sit down.

The last room in the care home that i needed to research was the living room which he would not be filmed much in however needed to be researched. What I found out is that it usually has a TV on the wall and they normally have single sofa chairs surrounding the room so everyone can face each other and talk to one another easily.

Credit to Katy

Second Project - WW2 Film

The second project is the one which we will be giving all our attention to after the 180 degree film is edited and uploaded because we want this film to show everything that we have be tort in media and hope that it will look as amazing as we imagine. This film is really going to test us because there isn't a direct link to another film that we could use as help. This is because we have combined two ideas/genres together to create what we hope will be unique film, to some extent.

The hybrid genre that we want to create is a mix between war thrillers and psychological thrillers because our questionnaires exposed that the youth of today are looking for new psychological thrillers more than others however we didn't want to make a generic psychological thriller because so many others had tried this in media because we as the youth of today like them. So, as a group we came to the decision to create a new hybrid of thriller which younger people would enjoy however would still be new. The reason behind this is because by creating a new hybrid genre it opens windows to pick and choose the conventions that we like from both genres and combine them to create this film. However this doe create more work for us because we then have to research more genres and and then go through the process of seeing what we liked. In the long run I hope this extra work will pay off.

Another point is that this film requires another level of editing that I myself have just started to I think that this is going to be a real push to try and make the film look at a semi-professional level. To make sure that I am up to the challenge I will be research about the way in which these editing techniques are used. For example: Keying, Matting, Chroma-Keying, Colour Grading and 3D Motion Graphics. All of these will serve a purpose in our film to make it look its best.

This is just a small brief of what a huge task is ahead of us.

First Project -180 Degree Rule

The first project that we are aiming to shoot today is the 180 degree rule, which we have already done test shots of shown in previous blog posts. The idea is that after school today we will of filmed the hole 180 degree rule and have it edited by next week. The reason this may be a challenge is because members of our group may be unable to make the shoot therefore we may have to move the day.
Another problem is that I think that the film should be longer and to do this we need a fight or we need to prolong the stare down.

This is a problem because to have a fight I would prefer to use by brother as an actor. This is because although I'm sure that Katy or Mariella wouldn't mind punching me in the face I know that my brother can do it due to the many fight scenes for our films already. The second problem is that to cut out the fight scene to prevent me needing my brother we would have to prolong the stare which would require use changing the storyboard because I don't think that the camera angles used at the moment create enough tension to hold the audience any longer. To overcome this problem I am going to propose to my group that we change some aspects of the storyboard.

To improve the film further I am going to use my own camera with an X-Grip allowing the camera to stay smooth within the last shoot when it is moving around the character. Furthermore I shall be using one of the schools tripods if required to keep the camera dead still. Lastly if we film this after school it should mean clearer audio because the school will be quieter compared with the test shots which had to have music to cover up the noise.

Why do the 180 Degree rule? (Basic)

The 180 degree isn't a static rule in the sense that we could break it without the world ending however to break this rule it is important that we as a group understanding what we are doing otherwise our audience will be left confused.

For example this rule is best explained through a conversation between two characters because they are looking at eachother. If I wanted to shoot this from a wide angle then two close ups I would have to create an imaginary line that cuts through the middle of the scene because this line is where the camera is advised not to cross.

The reason behind this because if I was to cross the line within the same scene then the actors would look like they were facing the same way and seem like a flipped image. The reason this is further a problem is because it ruins the eyeline match.

Costumes for Characters - War Thriller

Costumes and Ideas for War Thriller

I was given the role to research and look into costume ideas that are used within war-time thrillers, then to show examples of them so that there would be a visual guidance to as what costumes should be worn within our project.

The first thing that i found when researching costumes was a girl aged around 5 years old wearing what a typical evacuee would wear once they had been sent off; which included the name tag they would have worn so that when they reached their destination it was easy to locate them to their right carer as well as a cardboard box as a bag which represents that the working class did not have much money and as the government started to downfall so did the whole country with money, which is why they produced ration cards-which should be part of this outfit or maybe just an adults one- so that people could only buy a selected amount so that they country would not run out . As well as the hat which was the typical hat worn around the 1920-1940's as it was the fashion.

The next outfit i found was a youngish women who was wearing the outfit of what the most well known propaganda sign 'we can do it' wore; a bandana with a working jump suit. The use of the woman tensing her muscles opposed to the stereotypical woman before the war started as they were seen to be in the domestic part of society and men were supposedly part of the political part, therefore having propaganda convincing woman to work within the time period it was set shows the countries desperation to help build itself back up.

 

Credit - Katy Ward 

What we are aiming for

Level 1 0–23 marks

The work for the main task is possibly incomplete. There is minimal evidence in the work of the
creative use of any relevant technical skills such as:
• holding a shot steady, where appropriate.
• framing a shot, including and excluding elements as appropriate.
• using a variety of shot distances as appropriate
• shooting material appropriate to the task set.
• selecting mise-en-scène including colour, figure, lighting, objects and setting;
• editing so that meaning is apparent to the viewer.
• using varied shot transitions and other effects selectively and appropriately for the task set.
• using sound with images and editing appropriately for the task set.
• using titles appropriately.

Level 2 24–35 marks

There is evidence of a basic level of ability in the creative use of some of the following technical
skills:
• holding a shot steady, where appropriate.
• framing a shot, including and excluding elements as appropriate.
• using a variety of shot distances as appropriate.
• shooting material appropriate to the task set.
• selecting mise-en-scène including colour, figure, lighting, objects and setting.
• editing so that meaning is apparent to the viewer.
• using varied shot transitions and other effects selectively and appropriately for the task set.
• using sound with images and editing appropriately for the task set.
• using titles appropriately.

Level 3 36–47 marks

There is evidence of proficiency in the creative use of many of the following technical skills:
• holding a shot steady, where appropriate.
• framing a shot, including and excluding elements as appropriate.
• using a variety of shot distances as appropriate.
• shooting material appropriate to the task set.
• selecting mise-en-scène including colour, figure, lighting, objects and setting.
• editing so that meaning is apparent to the viewer.
• using varied shot transitions and other effects selectively and appropriately for the task set.
• using sound with images and editing appropriately for the task set.
• using titles appropriately.

Level 4 48–60 marks

There is evidence of excellence in the creative use of most of the following technical skills:
• holding a shot steady, where appropriate.
• framing a shot, including and excluding elements as appropriate.
• using a variety of shot distances as appropriate.
• shooting material appropriate to the task set.
• selecting mise-en-scène including colour, figure, lighting, objects and setting.
• editing so that meaning is apparent to the viewer.
• using varied shot transitions and other effects selectively and appropriately for the task set.
• using sound with images and editing appropriately for the task set.
• using titles appropriately.

Audio 

Level 1 0–23 marks

The work for the main task is possibly incomplete. There is minimal evidence in the work of the
creative use of any relevant technical skills such as:
• recording voice(s) clearly in studio/confined setting.
• recording voice(s) clearly in location/outdoor interviews/presentations.
• accurately using language and register.
• integrating recorded material, as appropriate.
• editing and mixing sounds appropriately.
• editing to create continuity and meaning.
• integrating jingles, music, location sounds and sound effects, where appropriate.

Level 2 24–35 marks

There is evidence of a basic level of ability in the creative use of some of the following technical
skills:
• recording voice(s) clearly in studio/confined setting.
• recording voice(s) clearly in location/outdoor interviews/presentations.
• accurately using language and register.
• integrating recorded material, as appropriate.
• editing and mixing sounds appropriately.
• editing to create continuity and meaning.
• integrating jingles, music, location sounds and sound effects, where appropriate.

Level 3 36–47 marks
There is evidence of proficiency in the creative use of many of the following technical skills:
• recording voice(s) clearly in studio/confined setting.
• recording voice(s) clearly in location/outdoor interviews/presentations.
• accurately using language and register.
• integrating recorded material, as appropriate.
• editing and mixing sounds appropriately.
• editing to create continuity and meaning.
• integrating jingles, music, location sounds and sound effects, where appropriate.

Level 4 48–60 marks
There is evidence of excellence in the creative use of most of the following technical skills:
• recording voice(s) clearly in studio/confined setting.
• recording voice(s) clearly in location/outdoor interviews/presentations.
• accurately using language and register.
• integrating recorded material, as appropriate.
• editing and mixing sounds appropriately.
• editing to create continuity and meaning.
• integrating jingles, music, location sounds and sound effects, where appropriate.


I aim to get around Level 3 going on Level 4 within this unit of both video and audio, my best hope is to get Level 4 so therefore me and my coursework group will focus on our targets within the set instructions so that we can get our highest possible mark.

Test Shots for 180 Degree Rule

This is the first take of our short video for the 180 degree rule. The reason I would like to re-shoot is because while editing this video I noticed a couple of errors. For starters it's not done and lacks any sense of story or narrative because the filming was all wrong. Another point is the continuity errors with the hand that Katy uses to be a gun. This is an issue because the hand changes making the story even harder to follow. To improve this I want to follow the storyboard more closely because then it would avoid Katy switching hands. Furthermore I want to have a small fight and use my camera with an X-grip to stabilize the camera while it tracks the action because the last shot was horrible because of shakiness.



Overall it was a good first attempt however I really want to improve this because I know we can do better.

Quick Blog post on Rule of Thirds

The rule of thirds is a concept in video and film production, in which the frame is divided into 9 imaginary sections. The Points of interest should lie on the grid lines, either one third or two thirds up the frame horizontally, or across vertically, compared to being positioned in the centre of the frame. 

The Rule of Thirds

This technique is used throughout film and helps divide the frame up into a more interesting composition compared to ones which don't and look weird but until you know this rule you can't figure out why. To get an example of this technique I used in one of my YouTube videos when my actor was holding the sniper so that the audience would take in both the gun and my actor.