For our second artifact, the criteria states that it must be an opening to a feature film, and must be to minutes in length. We watched some examples of the first two minutes of films, and we analysed them to see what we could pick up about the camera work, editing, lighting and mise en scene. We made notes on how this what effect this had on the audience, and what information it gave about the film. We picked up on things like drawing attention to certain characters, colour pallets, costume, and use of music. We also saw if we could guess the genre of the film from the first two minutes.
All the things we noticed from the films we took notes on, so that we could get inspiration from these ideas when creating our pieces.
The first task we faced when deciding what our feature film was going to be about, was choosing which genre it was going to be. We had choices such as thriller, romance, comedy and science-fiction. When deciding on a genre, I had to consider which of these was possible to film with m equipment, available locations, actors and budget. I could then rule out options such as sci-fi. Overall, the genre that I felt I would be able to produce most successfully was romance, as it had no particular specifications, and was a very broad category that I knew lots about, and had lots of different ideas of what storyline I could use that would be interesting, original and appropriate. I then made the decision to add the film noir element, meaning that I would like my entire film to be in black and white, and preferably set around the mid 1900's.
I began researching the romance genre, as well as film noir, and I found out what typical examples of the genre consisted of, and the style in which they were filmed. From this I thought up several ideas for storylines, and in the end I decided on one which I felt would work well. I also managed to find a piece of music that would fit my piece, the atmosphere I want to achieve, and the time period I would like it to be set in. I researched what clothing women wore in the mid 1940s, the time I chose my piece to be set in, and found out many interesting facts that I am able to use and show in my piece, in order to make it look as realistic and convincing as possible.
Once I had completed my research and decided on a particular storyline, I began to storyboard, expanding on my ideas and considering different ways of filming and putting across what I was intending. I was able to get a clear idea of how my piece was going to look, what ideas worked well, and what ideas did not. I then began to think of a location that was easily accessible for myself, the equipment and my chosen actress. After a successful conversation with my boss, who was very enthusiastic about the idea, I was given permission to film on the premises of the hotel and in one of the most old-fashioned rooms that would suit my theme.
I decided I would use my friend Lauren as my actress, as not only is she a media student also in my class, therefore able to fully understand what I wanted her to do, but she also had the timeless look that I wanted so should would suit any time period and costume.
After several attempts I completed a successful storyboard that I felt very happy with, and confident that it would be able to work. I then created the same storyboard but on the computer using software that was allowed me to create a neater copy, and once I had filmed and taken still images, I could then upload the images onto the storyboard to represent each stage.
I then had to create two second-by-second time lines for my piece, one for vision and one for sound, and a shooting script that included details such as what time I was going to film each part, the location and any shot requirements that I needed. Even though both these pieces were tricky to construct, as they required much detail and careful planning, I found that they helped me greatly get a very firm idea of what to do when filming, exactly what I wanted to be happening and when, and exactly how I want my piece to look and appear once it is finished.
With all this completed I was now fully set to film at my location, and simply had to wait a couple of days until the date agreed for my location, in which time I could study my planning, and think of any more ways to make my shooting run smoother and any other requirements or problems I might come across on the day of filming.
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All the things we noticed from the films we took notes on, so that we could get inspiration from these ideas when creating our pieces.
The first task we faced when deciding what our feature film was going to be about, was choosing which genre it was going to be. We had choices such as thriller, romance, comedy and science-fiction. When deciding on a genre, I had to consider which of these was possible to film with m equipment, available locations, actors and budget. I could then rule out options such as sci-fi. Overall, the genre that I felt I would be able to produce most successfully was romance, as it had no particular specifications, and was a very broad category that I knew lots about, and had lots of different ideas of what storyline I could use that would be interesting, original and appropriate. I then made the decision to add the film noir element, meaning that I would like my entire film to be in black and white, and preferably set around the mid 1900's.
I began researching the romance genre, as well as film noir, and I found out what typical examples of the genre consisted of, and the style in which they were filmed. From this I thought up several ideas for storylines, and in the end I decided on one which I felt would work well. I also managed to find a piece of music that would fit my piece, the atmosphere I want to achieve, and the time period I would like it to be set in. I researched what clothing women wore in the mid 1940s, the time I chose my piece to be set in, and found out many interesting facts that I am able to use and show in my piece, in order to make it look as realistic and convincing as possible.
Once I had completed my research and decided on a particular storyline, I began to storyboard, expanding on my ideas and considering different ways of filming and putting across what I was intending. I was able to get a clear idea of how my piece was going to look, what ideas worked well, and what ideas did not. I then began to think of a location that was easily accessible for myself, the equipment and my chosen actress. After a successful conversation with my boss, who was very enthusiastic about the idea, I was given permission to film on the premises of the hotel and in one of the most old-fashioned rooms that would suit my theme.
I decided I would use my friend Lauren as my actress, as not only is she a media student also in my class, therefore able to fully understand what I wanted her to do, but she also had the timeless look that I wanted so should would suit any time period and costume.
After several attempts I completed a successful storyboard that I felt very happy with, and confident that it would be able to work. I then created the same storyboard but on the computer using software that was allowed me to create a neater copy, and once I had filmed and taken still images, I could then upload the images onto the storyboard to represent each stage.
I then had to create two second-by-second time lines for my piece, one for vision and one for sound, and a shooting script that included details such as what time I was going to film each part, the location and any shot requirements that I needed. Even though both these pieces were tricky to construct, as they required much detail and careful planning, I found that they helped me greatly get a very firm idea of what to do when filming, exactly what I wanted to be happening and when, and exactly how I want my piece to look and appear once it is finished.
With all this completed I was now fully set to film at my location, and simply had to wait a couple of days until the date agreed for my location, in which time I could study my planning, and think of any more ways to make my shooting run smoother and any other requirements or problems I might come across on the day of filming.
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1 comment:
Your preparation and planning is excellent.
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