Update

Kim wrote: Today I filmed the final footage needed to complete our opening two minutes. I then uploaded and edited it into what we have so far, and then continued working on editing the titles for our film. I also finished creating the closing title for the name of our film. I have been thinking of ideas during my spare time out of the classroom so that I dont waste any time during lessons, and so that I am able to use as much of that time as possible with finding effects that work with the writing of each title.

The Title

Kim wrote: Today I worked on the film title. We have decided to call our film "Dead Dogs" due to the fact that its the name of the place in which I filmed it in. I also thought that this name would give a mysterious factor and add to the tension we anticipate the audience to feel whilst watching. I have been trying out different fonts, backgrounds and effects that I think would also make our opening scquence come across as more proffesional.

Here is the title 'Dead dogs' in Adobe Premier Elements after I edited it in so that it ran smoothly with the rest of our footage.

Here is the title 'Dead Dogs' in photoshop when I was trying out different effects on it in order to find one that went well.

End of term progress report

Jenny wrote: Kim and I have been editing our clips to get the final footage of film opening. We have also been creating opening titles, and are deciding on a name for our film we have not decided on one yet, but we have a general idea on what it will be like, it will be a simple (hopefully) one word title that is relevant to the film. We also have to get the background music and record Lizzie reading the letter.

General Update

Kim wrote: Today Jenny and I editing all of our footage on adobe premiere elements. Although we are still fairly new to this software we have a basic grasp of it, and learn new things on it every time we use it which keeps it interesting and fun to use.

Here is what we have been doing in adobe premiere elements.
Our production company is called 'Brown and Paxton Motion Pictures' and this shows the title we've used in our opening.

Filming Update

Kim wrote: Yesterday Jenny and I continued filming for our main task, and as a result have almost completed the filming. We successfully shot different clips and it went very smoothly due to the actors complying. After school today we will continue the filming and hope to finish so that we can then continue with the editing.

Up date on whats going on.

Jenny wrote: Today we are working on the heading titles getting the actors names up there on the screen. We did this using photoshop but it took us a while to get used to it. We changed the name of our productions to "Bare hands productions presents"#
A picture of this will be posted up later.

Later on today we will start filming again, as we had comlications with some of the footage we shot before and needed to delete it.

Final Storyboard

Kim wrote: Jenny and I have finally decided on our finished storyboards for what will be happening in our opening two minutes.

New Opening

Jenny Wrote: We have finally decided to change the beginning clip, instead of a clip of Lizzie's legs while running we have decided to have shots of the woods with the sound of her panting and her feet running over the forest floor.

We have also figured out more of our shots and we will put them on a storyboard, to add to our storyboards which we have already changed numerous times

What we did now.

Jenny Wrote: As we started to film, we decided that we needed to change the story line a bit, we have been discussing what we would change and are still getting ideas and thoughts about what would make it better and what to cut out with no major changes yet. We also have carried on editing the clips that we have decided to keep. We have created the titles of our film and here is a picture of our film company.

Starting to Film

Jenny wrote: Yesterday afternoon Kim started to film. She only could do part of the filming due to Alex not being available, so she got Lizzie and started to film parts with only her, which was quite a bit. She filmed the part with Lizzie running and building a fire. She also took quite a few shots of each to make sure to get a good one.
Today we have create the logo for our film, it is called "Paxton and Brown Productions" with a set of hands. And also have started to edit the clips that we have.
Also today, after talking to people about our story we have decided that our storyline has a few holes in it, so we are going to change and add a few things.

Progress report

Jenny wrote: Today we went up to Dead Dogs hill an area of the school campus, to take shots to see what would look better in our footage. We did a number of shots such as, pan shot, close up, tracking and many other shots.We decided that the weather today would be good as it was wet and miserable, but not pooring down with rain.

Storyboard So Far

Kim wrote: Here is a picture of five different shots from my storyboard so far.

Main Task Shot Practice

Kim wrote: Today I went to the locations of where our shots are going to be filmed, and practiced with Rosie, a substitute person, to get a feel of how the different shots should be filmed.


The first image will be the first shot, except Alex will be standing further away from the camera and will be standing still.



The next image is of the second shot in which you see Lizzie's feet running as she runs away from Alex.



This is simply a photo of an idea of a shot that could be used which could be really effect from the audiences perspective.



This is another photo of a possible shot which could either be still, or sweeping around the woods.

Details About Main Task

Kim wrote: Today I have to decide all of the finer details about our main task.

Synopsis
Our opening sequence is going to be about somebody running away from someone else, collecting wood and twigs, building a fire, then lighting it and watching it burn. Then there is going to be a letter written, and while its being written, there will be narration of what is being written, and then the person who was building the fire will be killed or die.

Location
We want to film our trailer in a dark, wooded area which could come across as spooky, so it will probably take place at either dead dogs, silent walk or the woods up by sweet hillocks (different areas within the school grounds).

Mise en scene/Actors/Props
I want our actors to wear dark, neutral clothes so that they fit in with the surrounding, but also at the same time to be noticeable. As our actors we want to use Lizze Johnson, a girl in our year and Alex MacPhail, a boy in upper 6th. The only props we need is some leaves, branches and twigs, some means of fire, to light it and a piece of paper and pen or pencil.

Mood/Look/Feel
We want the mood of the trailer to be sad, and scary. We've decided that for colours of the footage that it should be either in black and white, or a wash or neutral colours. The desired effect is that we want the viewers to enjoy watching it, but to feel scared at the same time.

Main Task Planning

Kim wrote: Now that the preliminary task has been completed, we've started planning our main task and thinking of a whole range of different ideas.

Research
So far, Jenny and I have watched a variety of films all with the same genre in order to find out what similar techniques they all use that we could incorporate into our trailer to make it so that the audience are drawn into it as much as possible.
Here is what we noted about three films we've watched so far.
In order to get some inspiration, I've also watched last year's Year 12 final trailers in the horror genre to see what they all have in common, which makes them interesting and look good.

1. Mise en scene - most horror films usually have dark sets, neutral clothes and the actors usually look quite pale. Mostly they start set in a house with some kind of spooky 'old wives tale' being told. Also, the colours of the actual film itself are mostly quite bland and weak.


2. Music - the music in horror films is a vital part of the story, because it creates most of the tension and that's what generally makes viewers feel so scared. Without it the story would still be scary, but the music carries the bulk of the tension.


3. Shots - there is a variety of shots usually used in the horror films, including extreme close ups, close ups, shot/reaction/shot. These also help to create tension within the scene and story itself.


4. Characters - in some films, characters are gradually introduced during the first five to ten minutes of the film, whereas in others they are all introduced within the first minute or so.

Our trailer storyline

We've decided to make our trailer storyline like one that was made last year. It will be about someone collect twigs and wood, and building a fire. They'll then light it and watch it burn. Although it sounds like a simple idea, we hope that with the right shots and angles, that it'll be really effective and look good from an audiences' perspective.

Mistake

Kim wrote: I've just re-watched our preliminary task and realised that in the beginning of it, Gabi isn't wearing a scarf, but when she stands up and leaves the room she is. This is a continuity error. When we start filming our main task we will take more care over making sure that its all the same throughout.

Finished Preliminary Task Questions

Kim wrote:
Q1:At a micro, technical level, how well did you film the tasks required - match on action, continuity filming, shot/reaction/shot and exchanging dialogue?

A1: Whilst filming the task, we had to work out what the actors should be doing at the beginning and end of each clip in order for us to use continuity filming and so that once it was finished it would make sense and not skip from one part to another. Also once we had finished filming all of the shots and they'd been uploaded onto the computer, we realised that Gabi hadn't been wearing a scarf for the shot when she walked up the ramp to the building, but had been when she sat down in the room and we did shot/reaction/shot, so we had to re-film her walking up the ramp with a scarf on.


Q2: How many mistakes did you make, and what have you learnt about filming?

A2: After filming the first shot and we had uploaded all of the clips onto the computer, I realised that I had accidentally stopped filming the shots during the dialogue too early, which meant that you couldn't hear the last few words of each sentence, so we had to re-film all of those shots. Also during one of the practice shots before we started filming for the Preliminary task, we tried to film without using a tripod, and we found out that it's very difficult to keep the camera completely still when filming without one.


Q3: If you had to do the task again, what would you do differently?

A3: If we had to do it again, we would take more practice shots before starting to film for the actual task so that I could get it right the first time, instead of having to re-film the dialogue shots again.


Q4: Describe how you edited the footage, and any problems you encountered.

A4: I edited the footage using Adobe Premiere Elements 2.0 whilst Jenny updated the blog. We had previously used this software in class, so I already knew how to use it which made the editing of the footage much faster. During the editing of the film the clips started slowing down and becoming out of focus and fuzzy, so we had to render the film and then it was fine after that. All in all the editing of the footage was very easy and straightforward.

Finished Preliminary Task

Task 1.

Jenny wrote: Kim and I are doing our main task as the opening two minutes of a horror movie. We had to watch the opening couple of minutes of a few horror movies. We watched the openings of "Seven", "The Blair Witch Project" and also the opening of "The Ring", this was to help us get an idea of what effects to use to make our opening two minutes scary and to creep people out. 

In both the opening of "Seven" and "The Ring" the footage was shot not in black and white or in a normal colour, but in a grey dark colour which almost looked a bit grey which gave a mysterious feeling to the film. 

This genre appeals to me because I believe that it would be interesting to shoot with lots of different angles on one thing, which I think will add to the effect.

Even though we are only aloud to shoot on school grounds for people like us who are doing horror films, there are many places to get a good scary shot. Kim and I have decided to shoot our film in black and white, either in Dead dogs or Silent walk, both of these are wooded areas but also  are quite spacious.  This will help with lighting, because of the shadows from the trees, which again will add to the  scary atmosphere.  

Task 1; Horror - research

Kim wrote: Jenny and I have decided to do our opening two minutes for a horror film. We were inspired to do a horror film by the opening trailers of the ones from last years' Year 12 AS coursework. Once we had decided to use this genre, we watched the opening two minutes of 'The Blair Witch Project' and 'The Ring' in order to see what techniques work and what we should do to make our opening exciting and scary for the viewers.
The opening of 'The Ring' made everyone watching it feel edgy, because the director cleverly used different shots, angles and dialogue to engage the audience. In the first minute of it, one of the characters had talked about the video tape, and what happens when you watch it. Then the phone rings and the TV turns itself on, and personally I was quite scared after this bit.


We have discussed what we can do to make our film scary for the audience, and have decided to shoot our clips in a wooded part of the school, possibly Dead Dogs or Silent Walk, so that there is still some light but at the same time its dark and mysterious. We have also decided that after we've got all of the footage we need that we're going to turn it black and white, inorder to progress the idea of horror.

Recording the Preliminary task

Jenny Wrote: Today we recorded the Preliminary Task. To do this before we actually recorded the actors, we went through what shots we were going to use, and the angle of the clips to get a clean shot of the actors. We practiced this first using each other in order to become accustom to the camera. We had to take each shot a few times to get the right timing and the lines right.
Then we took the clips off of the video camera and onto the computer hard drive. Now we have started to edit the film.

AS Media Studies Coursework

Name of people in group: Kim Paxton and Jenny Brown

Kim wrote: We are AS media students and this is part of our coursework. Our preliminary task is to create a short video that includes;

• Continuity Task - make the clips look like they've all been filmed in the same day/time of day.
• Match on Action - make sure that the actors look exactly the same in every different shot.
• Shot Reverse Shot - repeat the conversation more than once so that we can select the best shots and get the full conversation in.
• 180 degree rule - only take shots from one side of the room and not the other

In our task, we have to include shots of;

• Two people exchanging words of dialogue which will give us the shot reaction shot
• Somebody crossing a room
• Somebody opening a door

Today we have decided that our clip should invlove a conversation between a student who has forgotten their prep and their teacher. As the teacher, we are using Vidur Bharatram and as the student we are using Gabriella Paterson. The diologue will be something along the lines of;

Student: 'Sir I'm sorry but I've forgotten my prep'

Teacher: 'Why?'

Student: 'Because my laptop is broken'

Teacher: 'Ok, write it up for tomorrow then'

Student: 'Thank you sir'.

When the student is walking to the door and opening the door, we are going to use a close up tracking shot on their feet. When the student crosses the room we're going to use a low angle tracking shot. When the dialogue is happening we will use an over shoulder mid shot. And when the student leaves the room again we'll use a tracking shot. We have decided to use two different cameras.