More photos from two days of filming (:

More photos from two days of filming (:

Photos from last two filming days :)

More detail into our first filming day.

During our first filming day last Tuesday, we developed some ideas for us to merge and integrate into our film to make it more effective and enhance the social realism theme. Firstly, in the first shot of the pan around the young version of the male character’s room, a television is shown. We put the camera at an angle so there is a reflection of the boy in the TV, which not only makes the shot more interesting, but also expands the amount of shots we use which do not reveal his identity just yet.

We wanted to emphasise the contrast being the two main characters background, lifestyle and characteristics, so Daniel’s room is a lot more organised, full of gadgets and seems bigger, whereas Sophie’s room will have just the computer on a messy desk. Another idea we developed from this is using contrasting phones, as Sophie will be using a Nokia 3310, which is associated with old, ‘uncool’ technology – in comparison with Daniels.

We decided on ways in which we shall show the five years time change. We shall do this mainly through props. For example, when using Daniel’s room as the older version, his room will have more trophies, adult possessions (guitar, Hollyoaks Girl Calendar) and a more mature layout. Furthermore, to make it clear at the end, and a nice effect to contrast the similar beginning and ending on msn, Sophie’s name will begin (as the younger version) with the emotion (L) which is a heart; and then as the older version will have a broken heart emotion next to her name. This is subtle yet effective. In addition, the characters fonts, name and picture will all be stereotypical to their gender. For example Sophie’s will be pink, have a heart in her name and have a picture of a flower, whereas Daniel will be blue, have a football in his name and have a picture of a football. This will add to the social realism elements of the film, as the audience is expecting these features and can relate to them.

Feedback on the story board - Ben Brown

I asked a few people from other media classes and other students who also do not do media their opinion on our story board and our original ideas.

Alex Lloyd (media student) 'I like the use of the match on action shots it shows a very clear picture of what is happening in just a few seconds of filming and make its more unique and interesting to watch. Also the plot is simple and easy to follow which in short films is normally the best option'

Megan comber (college student) 'I think that the twist at the end where her boyfriend appears at her door instead of Daniel is unexpected and make you wonder how she is going to resolve this situation'

Matt Ruxton (out of college) 'I'm not particularly fond of the original story line because its not really what I am in too'

These comments show that not all people that may watch this film may enjoy it because to is aimed at a specific audience which is mainly females between all ages

Feedback.

Here are some more feedback comments on the idea and storyline we have produced. As our target audience is mainly young adults (and most likely females), this is the audience I've asked.

Sara Ashdown, college student – "I think it has a clever and unexpected ending, which links in well with the social realism theme, as it’s a lot more of a realistic end"

Rebecca Symonds, college student – "It’s a good basic idea for a short film with an interesting twist. I like the way you’ve used real siblings as actors, so it with add to the realism and your idea to contrast the two characters backgrounds and lifestyles."

Rushes Feedback

-Although we haven't finished our rushes completley, we uploaded what we had done onto the computer to see how it had turned out. Overall, we were pleased with how our shots turned out, the lighting worked well and our shots were exactly as we had wanted them. By filming each shot more than once we could choose which one would look most effective when creating continuity.

-It was slightly raining the day of our last filming, however luckily you couldn't tell in the filming and we won't have to re film any of the shots.

-Andrew Mann said 'really effective lighting you've used there, looks great' which we were pleased about, as he is our teacher and recognised our carefully planned use of lighting to create a good setting.

-We also showed our rushes to members in our class to which we got positive feedback. Danny Clough mentioned that we 'had a good use of shots and angles' which was also something we tried to create.

FIlming - Ben Brown

Today we are planning on filming at Nicole's house. We had a good start to the filming last week when we managed to get most of the shots done of the boy playing the young Daniel in his middle class home. Today and tomorrow we are hoping to finish all of our rushes which include the transition through time of Daniel and Sophie 5 years into the future and the shots we need to take outdoors as we checked and the weather and is meant to be clear which gives us the opportunity to film the footage that we need in the right weather conditions.

Our Animatic

Allocation of roles - Ben Brown

Ben - camera operator/ Director/ acting/ editing/ sound

Kris - camera operator/ lighting/ editing/ acting

Nicole - camera operator/ props, costumes/ acting/ editing

Dani - camera operator/ director/ editing

Second Filming Day.

On Tuesday, the 23rd February after college we shall be completing the second day of filming at the second location - the female character Sophie's house (Nicole's house). Our aim is to complete all the shots in one day and take as many still photos as possible, alongside developing more ideas for our film poster. Here are some location photos and props we shall be using;

This is the kitchen area which we shall use for the meal Sophie and her current boyfriend have. The kitchen isn't very posh or expensive looking so symbolises that she is not rich.
Here is the specific table we shall be using whilst they have their meal.
Here is her front door, and the window at the side which is useful as Daniel (as the older character) will be able to look in and using a clever point of view shot, clearly see Sophie and her boyfriend having the meal. This door will also be used for the match on action shot of Sophie leaving the house nearer the beginning.
This is the speaker we shall use for Sophie's computer, it is not as high advanced in technology as Daniel's one, showing the contrast in wealth.

This is the desk and computer we shall be using for the beginning messenger convosations, the pink girly walls and layout indicate the girls use of the computer and room.

Nicole.

Filming Photos

Here is where we set up Daniels desk for the first shot which shows a pan round his room. We collected props which we thought a traditional 13 year old boy would possess (including an X- Box). We also placed a football picture in the background in order to maintain the realism.

The items shown shows his middle class background and the typical style of a teenagers room.

This picture shows Ben, Nicole and I filming a shot of Daniel at the computer. We all had input into each shot and how the scene should take place.

Here, i took a picture of the setting as this was where some of the filming of Daniel took place. It shows his desk and surrounding objects in his room which portray the social realist theme.

The purpose of these images was for us to show our involvement in the filming and directing of shots. We took pictures of the setting that we will be using to show that we added in props that we added in order to make it look more realistic.

Most pictures were taken prior to each shot in order to place emphasis on the props and the atual setting itself as this may not be recognised in the film.

Filming Photos

This shot was where Daniel opens the draw to pull out some speakers. We filmed this shot from several different angles and decided not to use the tripod as it was easier to film. This image shows myself filming from a slightly high angle.

We didn't film Daniels face in this shot in order to put focus on what he was doing.

This was where we filmed Sophie walking up to the front door as she is about to knock, but backs out. As it was raining we filmed from inside Bens car so that the camera wouldn't get wet and the shot would remain clear.

We still attempted to try different angles from within the car, however it was difficult due to the lack of space!

In this shot, Ben was filming Daniel typing on the computer as he is chatting to Sophie. We did lots of shots from different angles of this to emphasise when he is typing.

Each shot only lasts a couple of seconds so we made sure that each one was relevent.

Here is a group picture of us next to the camera on the day of filming!

Filming

Yesterday Nicole, Ben and I along with the two young actors filmed most of our shots at Bens house. The filming went well, we used our storyboard in order to be accurate and create useful shots that we needed. We filmed most of the shots more than once, incase there was a problem with the original when we came to edit and we used different angles/sizes so that we were able to choose which one was most effective. However, we were unable to do all of the filming as some of our shots require a girls bedroom which will be filmed at Nicoles house in a couple of days.

It was difficult to shoot some shots outside as it was raining, however we managed to complete it successfully. We also ensured that the setting was accurate in looking like a 13 year old boys bedroom (maintaining the social realism aspect). Overall, the filming went well and we have a variety of different shots to choose from.

Dani.

First Filming Day.

We've planned to meet tomorrow, (Tuesday the 16th February)around midday to complete our first day of filming. We shall be meeting at Ben's house in Crawley Down to try and shoot all the shots needed at his house, which is where the majority of the film is taking place. Both mine and Ben's brother and sister are coming along, as we hope to get there shots together all done in one day. We shall be taking still photos of certain scenes for us to maybe use in our film poster and/or review, and at the same time will be thinking of unique ideas for our group poster. Furthermore, we have planned to take many takes of the same shots from different angles and positions so we have a range of shots to look through and find the best ones which fit in with our social realist film. It will also decrease the chance to doing the same as many of us realised was easy to do with our last years AS projects, which is make silly mistakes such as bad uneven lighting or bad reflections, which consequently meant we had to do another filming day for such a avoidable mistake. So this way we shall have back up's if needed.

Nicole.

Location Survey - Ben Brown

1. We have chosen to use this style of house to represent a middle classed family house, where the boy Daniel lives. This tells you that the character has had a relatively easy up bringing and wouldn't have a lot to worry about in the world apart from troubles he is having away from his home life.








2. This is the boy Daniels door we are using when the girl Sophie goes to knock for him them backs down. This door again shows that he lives in a slightly upper class family becuase the door is made of wood when a plant pot and light outside the house. which would show that it is a private detached house.







3. we are using this location as the hallway that the boy walks through when he is putting his school bag on after he was finished talking on the computer. you can see that there is a porch within his home which further signifies the fact that he lives in a nice safe environment.








4. This sofa is going to be used when we use a dissolve shot from Daniel as a 12 year old to five years later. We show this by the fact we are going to put a clock and a calendar either side of the sofa to signify the times and years are changing. We decided to use this sofa because it still promotes the idea that he lives quite a luxurious place, which a big leather sofa and it shows that his position in a nice secure home has not changed after the five years after. It also has a nice simple white background which will draw more attention to the clocks and calendars we are going to put above the sofa so it is clearer what is going on.

Audience Response

Once we decided on the story of our film, I decided to get some feed back off people to see what they thought of our idea. Here is what they said:

Keira Smalley (media student)
'I think it's a very well-thought out idea, that's clearly been planned carefully taking into consideration the resources and time available. The story will build sufficient attention to sustain the audience's attention, with the climax coming at an appropriate time in the story. The ending is un-predictable and challenges expectations of a fairy-tale style of romance.'

Adam Rutherford (Media Student)
"A very clever idea studying the complexities of past and present relationships. The film-makers have obviously put a lot of time and energy into taking a viable and very relatable subject but making it into something completly original. I awate the film's completion with excitement and baited breath"

Romance in Social Realism- Research

As our social realism film contains the theme of romance, I decided to do some research of similar films.

We were especially inspired by David Lean's Brief Encounter, as the big hit film focused on romance issues that many people can relate to and at the time were not adressed. The film opened up a whole new prospective for women and their roles.

In Love and the highly-successful rom-coms, British Romantic films have mirrored the remarkable changes in the way we have conducted relationships over the last century- BBC 2 Website.

Target Audience

For our social realism film the target audience is reasonably open, however probably steering towards the teenage- young adult audience. As it is a romantic film, arguably and stereotypically it would be more enjoyed by females. However as it conveys entertainment and keeps the audience entertained it should and hopefully will be enjoyed by many.

We are mainly aiming to target fans of romantic comedys or social realism films as that is the theme we have gone for. The film should keep the audience interested throughout as we have used a storyline that people can possibly relate too.