Question time...7

7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

I feel that we have come a long way from our preliminary task. We learnt a lot of essential skills from doing the preliminary, but we learnt far more doing the opening sequence. It was more of a challenge having to create a 3 minute film rather than 20 seconds, we needed to create a 3 minute narrative this time so therefore needed to have more ideas. Fortunately we were all feeling creative during the process, as we had lots of ideas in the planning stages and throughout working on it we came up with even more.

Improvements from the preliminary:
In the preliminary we didn’t use any music, so when creating our media product this time we ensured we used music, which helped to create the appropriate atmosphere, and allowed us to manipulate the viewers’ emotions.
Also n the preliminary we didn’t use a tripod leading to some shots being shaky, however in our opening sequence we ensured we use a tripod, to get a stiller and better quality shots. This added to the quality of our film.
We used a wider range of shots in our opening sequence than we did in the preliminary and used them appropriately to fit in with the storyline.

I think we found the editing harder when creating the opening sequence to the preliminary because we had much more to edit, and it was hard to make sure it all ran smoothly. We also experienced problems with the software where we had to do some of it again because it hadn't saved properly.
As we filmed over several days, we had to ensure we kept continuity, we took pictures of what the characters were wearing to ensure we looked the same each time, and we also tried to ensure if shooting the shot from different angles we would make sure we repeated the same actions in the same way, with the same objects in the correct hands etc.
Also...I must admit...I disliked it when we got rid of shots that we liked either because they didn't work with the sequence or there wasn't enough time to include it in the sequence. But that's just me being clingy.

Overall I have thoroughly enjoyed the process of creating our media product. It has been hard work and difficult at times, but very enjoyable, fun and rewarding. I've loved working with my group. I've learnt plenty about the film industry and what is required just to make a 3 minute opening sequence. Also I have learnt new skills through doing this, which is very pleasing! I'm looking forward to doing Media next year :D

Question time...6

6. What have you learn about technologies from the process of constructing the product?

We have used a wide range of technologies whilst creating our product. Here are the technologies and what I learnt from each stage.

Planning:

Dvd player: I watched Mrs Henderson Presents opening video commentary. I chose to watch this because not only is it one of my favourite films, but it is backed by 'BBC Films' which is one of the companies we could ask to help fund our film. I learnt that dvd commentaries can give you insight into the decisions the Director make and why they make them.

I also used a dvd player to watch and then review an exisiting opening film sequence, Dirty Harry. Reviewing an existing opening to a film, helped understand the process of creating an opening sequence.

Digital camera: This was used for taking pictures of the location, I learnt how still pictures help to represent what you want to film.

Websites/Search engines: I used the internet to help in the research stage of our film. I used search engines such as 'yahoo', 'google' and 'wikipedia' to find out vital information. I used charity websites to find out information on Sophie's problems. I also looked at 'NorthAllerton College' which provided me with brilliant, detailed paragraphs on camera work.

Construction:

Camera for filming: I learnt about how to use the camera and the tripod and now have a greater knowledge of what a camera can do and how to use it more effectively. I learnt about zoom, different angled shots, angles, movements and autofocus.

Microphone: We used a microphone to record the voiceovers and music, it was difficult to control volume using this, but by the end of the process we had learnt how to use them more effectively.

Editing software on the computer: We used 'vegas editing' software for the editing of our film. I have come a long way from the beginning of the year in terms of editing and now understand how to use it better and have grasped the basics when editing films on it. I learnt about transitions and how to edit the sound and cut clips to the correct length and when to bring different clips in. I now think I would be able to produce more films on there in the future.

Evaluation:

Facebook: We used this social networking site and uploaded the video onto it to use for people to watch and review. This helped me understand how film industries can use technology to gain feedback on their film.

Also learnt how to use blogspot to blog...and hopefully I haven't blogged too badly...*fingers crossed*.

Furthermore learnt how you can never trust computers...they really aren't all that reliable...in fact all technology is unreliable.

Question time...5

5. How did you attract or address your target audience?
How, why and is it effective?

Although we gained mainly positive feedback, we did acquire some criticisms too.
Here is a questionnaire we used to gain audience feedback. It proved an effective way to gain results we wanted. We gave 20 people our questionnaire. 10 people through facebook and 10 people offline took it. We used 5 closed questions and an open questions. Here it is:

1. Could you clearly identify that Sophie was the main character in the film?
a. Easily
b. Quite easily
c. With difficulty
d. No I didn’t realise

95% of the people could 'easily' identify that Sophie was our main character, and the remaining 5% could 'quite easily' identify her as the main character.

2. What genre do you think our film is?
a. Thriller
b. Mystery
c. Melodrama
d. Horror
e. Romance

The people we questioned did not find it as easy to identify the genre of our film. I believe this is because melodramas aren't as easy to recognise and as well known as other genres.

3. Could you understand the opening sequence clearly?

a. Yes

b. No

c. Some of it

90% of people we asked could understand our opening sequence clearly. 10% said it wasn't clear, if we were to make further adjustments we would try and see how we could make it clearer for the audience.

4. What do you think our target age group is?

a. Children
b. Teenagers

c. Adults

d. Elderly

Most people guest right and believed it to be a film for teenagers. Nobody thought it was aimed at the elderly. The minority of people believed our audience was children. A few thought the audience was adults, but we were also trying to appeal to them as well so this is expected.

5. Would you watch the whole film?

a. Yes
b. No
c. Maybe

The majority of people they would like to see the whole film, and everyone else said they would consider watching the rest of the film if it was to be made.

6. How could we improve our opening sequence?
"At one point the autofocus seems to make the image go blurry"
"Too many voiceovers"
"Some of the transitions weren’t as smooth as they could have been"
"The quality of the camera isn't very good"
"Voiceovers a little bit too quiet"

Question time...4

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

I feel females would be the main audience for our film. Melodramas typically appeal to a feminine audience. Although males may also enjoy the film, I think we would try and attract young women to come and see the film. Although we would also try not to exclude the male gender. Also some teenagers would be able to relate with 14 year old Sophie as she is a similar age to them and may be dealing with some issues they are facing in their lives. Females statistically are more likely to suffer with depression, however many males also battle with the illness, moreover although we have represented a young girl dealing with depression, depression can occur at any age, and often people can experience depressive relapses throughout their life. I think our film can educate on what it's like for a person to deal with depression, self harm, eating disorders and domestic violence. There is always more awareness that needs to be created on these issues.
I feel having chosen to do a melodrama, we have not chosen a typical genre of film, as melodramas are more uncommon than many genres of film on screen today. So hopefully that would create some interest and get some regularly cinema goers wanting to watch it as it is something different.

We looked at the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) guidelines to consider what rating we would give our film. We decided that it should be a 15. The BBFC guidelines state that the following guidelines constitute as a rated 15 film:

• Imitable behaviour
  Dangerous behaviour (for example, hanging, suicide and
  self-harming) should not dwell on detail which could be
  copied. Easily accessible weapons should not be glamorised.


• Theme
  No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is
  appropriate for 15 year olds.


• Drugs
  Drug taking may be shown but the film as a whole must not
  promote or encourage drug misuse. The misuse of easily
  accessible and highly dangerous substances (for example,
  aerosols or solvents) is unlikely to be acceptable.


• Violence
  Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the infliction
  of pain or injury. The strongest gory images are unlikely to
  be acceptable. Strong sadistic or sexualised violence is also
  unlikely to be acceptable.
  There may be detailed verbal references to sexual violence
  but any portrayal of sexual violence must be discreet and
  have a strong contextual justification.


• Language
  There may be frequent use of strong language (for example,
  ‘fuck’). The strongest terms (for example, ‘cunt’) may be
  acceptable if justified by the context. Aggressive or repeated
  use of the strongest language is unlikely to be acceptable.


• Nudity
  Nudity may be allowed in a sexual context but without
  strong detail. There are no constraints on nudity in a
  non-sexual or educational context.


• Sex
  Sexual activity may be portrayed without strong detail.
  There may be strong verbal references to sexual behaviour,
  but the strongest references are unlikely to be acceptable
  unless justified by context. Works whose primary purpose is
  sexual arousal or stimulation are unlikely to be acceptable.


• Discrimination
  The work as a whole must not endorse discriminatory
  language or behaviour.


• Horror
  Strong threat and menace are permitted unless sadistic or sexualised.
  

We have put our film into this category, because we feel if we were to continue our film this is what guidlines we would need to work to. This means people watching the film shouldn't be under 15 years of age, which aims our film at a mature audience.

Question time...3

3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

We would distribute our media product to companies such as 'Film 4 Productions', which is owned by channel 4, because we have a made a low budget, British, independent film. We didn't have much money to make the film, which is evident in the quality of the camera and some of the shots, sound and the editing. Hopefully if we were backed by 'Film 4' we would be able to sort out any problems.
We included ‘In association with Film 4’ in our opening sequence. Unlike the American blocker buster, Hollywood movies, which have huge budgets; British independent films focus on producing grittier storylines, rather than focusing on the special effects. The money involved in making these films isn’t as much, so directors look to create a different type of film.
In the past film 4 has backed a wide range of films such as 'Slumdog Millionaire', 'Enduring Love', 'A room with a view', 'Beautiful Thing', and 'Lovely bones' without which, these films probably wouldn't have got the funding to be made.
However, we could also distribute our film to 'BBC Films' which are another production company which funds the kind of film we made. These have backed films such as 'An Education', 'The Duchess', 'Bullet Boy', 'Millions' and 'Mrs Henderson Presents'.

Question time...2

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

What social groups and how it represents it

We tried to represent the social groups in our film sensitively. We did a lot of research into all of the social groups we are representing, so we could portray them authentically. We are representing a 14 year old teenager girl who suffers from depression and is also facing many other problems in her life such as an eating disorder, domestic violence and self harm. Although I'm 3 years older than that of a 14 year old, I look young for my age, so this along with wearing suitable clothes a little make up helped me play this age authentically. Furthermore I have done lots of acting in the past both stage and film, take theatre studies for a-level and I'm represented by an acting agency, so this experience also allowed me to play Sophie effectively as I knew how I could become Sophie and feel the emotions she would be dealing with. Sophie is classed as a vulnerable person in society, not only being a teenager and female, she is suffering from a mental illness and would require help and therapy to battle against her illness.

In our film, I think we’ve stereotypically portrayed woman as being the weak and emotional ones. Whilst the male is portrayed as aggressive and intimidating. Women usually are the victims in domestic violence issues, and the men tend to be the ones to intimidate them.

The Father is in a shirt and smart black trouser, suggesting he is the breadwinner of the family, and likes to be in control. The mother is dressed in casual clothes suggesting she hasn’t been out anywhere in the day, she is a housewife. Both of the parents are middle aged. Sophie wears long sleeve tops/jumpers to hide the fact that she self-harms. She doesn’t try hard with her appearance.

All 3 characters are caucasian, so although this only represents one ethnic groups, it doesn't mean different ethnicities can't face the same issues that are shown in our film.

Question time...1

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge the forms and conventions of real media products?
Comparision to other media products

A media product, which is a film, should establish the narration, characters, settings, genre, style, ideology and visual style in the first few minutes of the film. We have aimed to do all of this in our opening sequence. The narration was developed by using research taken from charities websites such as: ‘The Mood Foundation’, ‘Mind’ for depression. ‘Beat’ for eating disorders and ‘Women’s Aid’ and ‘The Hideout’ for domestic violence, and from this expanded our initial ideas and create a plot for our media product. We didn't really base our idea upon an existing film, but as I am a loyal supporter of 'The Mood Foundation' and have raised money for them in the past and really believe in the cause and so was already quite knowledgeable on the condition, the idea originiated from here.

The title 'Welcome to my World' is a common phrase which me use, usually in a sarcastic way. The 'my' being in itallics helps demonstrate the sarcasm. I think the title of the films conveys the idea that the world they are living is rather sinister and dark. It shows how the character doesn't have anyone to turn to, so tries to invite the audience into experience her life with her.

We have three characters in our opening sequence Sophie and her two parents. I think we quickly establish who the main character of our film is. We open with a shot of Sophie writing in a diary. Then we show who her family are, through the kitchen scene. It shows our film is based on her. Sophie is also the character who does the voiceovers which indicates it is her story. Melodramas often have the good vs. evil side when portraying characters. Sophie is the good, where the Father is the evil as he is some of the reason to why Sophie is so depressed. The ideology of the piece is to show that we are on Sophie’s side, we want the audience to care and connect to her. We want the antagonist to be her Father, who is an evil, cruel man who inflicts misery on Sophie and her Mothers life.

We used decided to have our opening sequence set inside which is to represent the enclosure that our main character feels. Filming indoors also mean lots of our footage appears dark and dimly lit which affects the visual style of the piece. We filmed in two different houses, but ensured we would only include on kitchen, living room, bathroom, bedroom etc. in the film.

Our film is a melodrama, Sophie is suffering with the mental illness, depression, like characters in melodramas she has difficulty expressing her feelings to others. So we hope the music and the voiceovers represent what she is dealing with. She is unable to deal with what she is going through, showing inner conflict, so turns the frustration and pain upon herself, by self harming, drinking alcohol and crying often.

Despite not basing our idea on an exisiting film, similarities in our film can be seen to the film ‘About a boy’ where the boy’s Mother is suffering with depression and tries to take her own life, by overdosing on pills. Sophie also tries to overdose on pills to kill herself in the opening sequence of our film.

Our creation *revised*

Welcome to my world video

Alterations...

After doing our initial opening sequence, and despite the positive feedback we gained, we realised we had some alterations to make...

• Firstly our opening sequence was four minutes long, so we decided that although we liked all of the content, we should cut it down, as we felt it was a bit too long for an opening sequence.
• When cutting the sequence we decided to take out the whole of the first minute, because although we liked it, it wasn't essential footage.
• We redid one of the voiceovers because it was hard to hear, and in fact the one we replaced it with was much better in terms of clarity.
• We put the credits towards the end of the 3 minutes, rather than at the beginning. We also made sure that that we only used the four main credits...staring, directed by, produced by, music by...
• We tried to make the cuts flow better and cut a second or two off a few clips
• We changed the ending of the opening sequence so she didn't die and instead said 'if only it had been that easy' we felt that was a better way to continue the film.

We've created an opening sequence *high 5*

We've created our opening sequence. However we didn't follow the storyboard/script to plan. Nevertheless I feel it was better that way, as we made more interesting creative choices and had new and more practical ideas when filming it...

1. We took out the school scene as we felt they made the piece drag, and didn't add much to the sequence.
2. We changed some of the dialogue at the dinner scene, from the original script, because we improvised when filming it. Then edited it all together.
3. We moved the screaming into the pillow part to straight after the dinner scene.
4. We removed scene with the Father standing in the doorway, because we felt it was too subtle and the viewer probably wouldn't understand what we were trying to imply.
5. We created a different ending of her sitting on the sofa with the tv, but just thinking instead, then taking paracetamol to try and end her suffering.
6. We finished with the mum coming into the room and finding her dead.

We are now going to use audience feedback to try and adapt our opening sequence, to improve it...

La la la...Music and Sound!

I composed a piece of music - which will be the theme tune - with my brother, Chris. Then we recorded the piece of music. It was a duet. So I played the piano, whilst Chris played the brass instrument called the baritone.

We also decided to use the beginning of a Leona Lewis song 'Homeless' as it is a sad, emotional piece of music and seemed to fit very nicely with some of the dialogue.

Furthermore we have also used a voiceover, with Sophie talking. It shows her thoughts, probably from what she has written down in her diary. Nevertheless we had some difficulties when recording with the microphones, as you could hear the affects of using a microphone, so we had to try our best to edit out the microphone noises and turn it down when necessary.

Character Representation

The main character in the film is Sophie. Sophie is a 14 year girl, suffering with the illness depression. She is struggling with dealing with life and so self harms to release the pain. She has nobody to turn to so uses her diary as a way to express her feelings. She has become very down and can see no hope she wants to commit suicide and often has suicidal thoughts.

Her Father is very strict and uncaring where Sophie is concerned. He can not understand her behaviour at all and has no symphathy for people sufferign with depression, including his own daughter. And gets very angry and frustrated with her lack of eating at mealtime and lots of other things she does. This doesn't help Sophie at all. He is cruel and may be one of the causes leading to Sophie to be depressed.

Her Mother is more reserved, shy and timid. She is a peacemaker and wants everyone to be happy in her home. However she is very frightened of her husband as he overreacts and can sometimes lash out at her and her daughter. She doesn't want to upset him, so she dislikes Sophie not obeying his orders and seeming so down.

Location Location Location

We used two different houses when filming Sophie in her house. We filmed some of the scenes and Kay and Sam's house and some scenes at my house.

These are the pictures taken at their house along with a description about why we filmed the scene there.
Sam and Kay's house

This is Sophie's bed, we filmed a scene with Sophie screaming into her pillow on this bed

This is the desk area, where Sophie writes her diary entries.

These are the stairs which Sophie storms up after a row in the kitchen with her parents.

The outside of Sam and Kay's house just to show the location, however we will not film outside in the actual opening film sequence.
My House

This is the bathroom, where Sophie cuts herself


This is a picture of the sofa in the living room where Sophie takes the pills


This is the kitchen where the dinner scene occurs

Storyboardy...

Credits

We have worked the credits into our opening sequence.
First of all we decided to have all of the following credits in our opening film sequence:

Starring...Lucy Formby
Written by...Ruth Halliday and Kayleigh Protheroe
Directed by...Samantha Protheroe, Kayleigh Protheroe and Ruth Halliday
Produced by...Samantha Protheroe, Kayleigh Protheroe, Lucy Formby and Ruth Halliday
Camera Operators...Samantha Protheroe, Kayleigh Protheroe and Ruth Halliday
Costume Manager...Kayleigh Protheroe
Prop Managers...Samantha Protheroe, Kayleigh Protheroe, Lucy Formby and Ruth Halliday
Make-Up...Lucy Formby and Kayleigh Protheroe
Music - Lucy Formby and Chris Formby
Special Effects...Samantha Protheroe, Kayleigh Protheroe, Lucy Formby and Ruth Halliday
Edited by...Samantha Protheroe, Kayleigh Protheroe, Lucy Formby and Ruth Halliday

Despite this, we decided that there was too much, as it seemed like an overload of information for the viewer, and took away from the contents of the film. So we changed it into something more simple.

Starring... Lucy Formby
Produced by... Lucy Formby and Samantha Protheroe
Directed by... Kayleigh Protheroe and Ruth Halliday
Music by... Lucy Formby and Chris Formby

Safety Hazards...*sighs*

There comes a time when we must consider all the tedious elements to do with making a film. Oh, but yes of course it's very important that we take the appropriate health and safety precautions to make sure that our safety isn't at risk...
Possible safety hazards include
Scissors: These have sharp blades and we must make sure that we are careful when handling the equipment. Have to ensure that we use a blunt blade.
Paracetamol: Consume something with similar appearance, but doesn't contain and drugs in the film process, or mime taking them.
Food: This is a possible choking hazard, for the parents of Sophie, especially if there is shouting involved. There is also a possibility that they might get food poisoning from the fish they were eating.
Cutlery: Knives and forks, plates are breakable so we must be careful when using the equipment to prevent them from breaking.
Stairs: I could of fallen down the stairs, whilst/running stomping up them as Sophie. So I ensured that I didn't wear any unsuitable footwear

Props

The Props/Equipment we are using...

1. Scissors
2. Paracetamol
3. Television remotes
4. Other sharp objects
5. Food
6. Cutlery
7. Blanket
8. Paper
9. Pen
10. Sofa
11. Charis
12. Table
13. Bed
14. Pillow
15. Fake blood

Sources

Most of the topics in our film are really difficult and serious issues to show (eg. depression, domestic violence, self-harm). We wanted to represent what it is like for someone facing these problems as realistically as possible...
When researching we used the following sources:

The Mood Foundation is a charity, run by Rupert Young, it provides treatment for people suffering with depression, drug addictions and self harm; offering talking and alternative therapies. I'm a supporter of the charity. It provided us with good factual information on depression and what it is like for people suffering. It helped us a lot when developing the film.

Mind is a leading charity in this country for mental health. It was great for gain new insight into all types of mental health issues as well as depression, by providing information we were unable to find anywhere else.



Women's Aid This charity is set up to help women and children who are or have experienced domestic violence. It believes everyone has a right to live freely and without violence and abuse. Through the website we found out more about the abuse and how it feels for the victims.

beat This charity deals with eating disorders, despite Sophie's depression being the cause of why she isn't eating we also wanted more information about the various types of eating disorders and what that entails.

The hideout

This charity is the children's section of women's aid website. It provided us with a very clear idea of what exactly domestic violence can be classed as and videos of people with real life stories.

Dear Diary...

Here is some entries from Sophie diary that have been used to shape our film.

Dear diary....I know I’m not the most perfect person in the world and to be quite frank, nobody is but I’m the one that feels all the hate is on me. The past few days have been difficult, I don’t know how to deal with it so I just get angry with everyone and then they get angry with me and I wonder why. School is the worst thing ever but I suppose it does take my mind off of things for a little while. My friends are close to me but ever since things changed, for me, they have drifted, especially now when I need them most. I feel they now hate me or, at least, the person I’ve become because they judge on what they see and not how they feel, deep down inside. The pain is unbearable and the only way I’m free from it is if I take pills to numb the feeling of what’s going on around me. I feel safe when the pain is numb, as if nothing or no-one can get to me. It’s a way to keep my emotions bottled up inside of me although, one day I know I’ll have to let them out – or not. Lying in my bed at night allows me to let a little emotion run from me so there is room for more when I find something else that bothers me. It’s confusing as to how I get through each day and away from the feeling of hatred when I’m in my sleep. All of my barriers, I feel have failed and the people I love are drifting further and further away in each minute of my life.

Dear diary....Every day is a new day although I can’t feel anything as the pills have taken control over what emotions I can and can’t experience. I take these pills to help me but I don’t think they are working. I just feel tired and want to go to sleep for every hour of every day, it’s like my life choices have control of every move I make. I do think of my family and friends and how they respond to my ways but they don’t understand me anymore, it’s like they are the different colours of a rainbow and all I see is black. The hardest thing to deal with is my health and my friends and family. Since a few weeks ago, I will only eat about a third of what my family do. It’s hard to communicate with them because my parents recently divorced and I feel that I can’t talk to them because they are no longer together. My whole world is falling apart in front of me and the only thing that I can think of is, well, myself. I’m being so selfish and I refuse to do any social activities because I feel like, what’s the point really? I’m finding it hard to trust everyone, especially me. There is nothing I do, that I can compliment about. I think my family have given up trying to help me because all I do is ignore their advice. A week back they found cuts on both my arms, which is when they really gave up on me.

Dear diary.... No-one knows what to do with me anymore, friends or family. Each day at school gets worse as the term goes on. My friends try to help me, have a one-on-one with me but I’m not stupid and I know what they were trying to do so I avoided them. To be honest at this moment I don’t care if I have no friends or family to help, I prefer being by myself. My thoughts tend to run away with me and I’ve done a lot of thinking recently that maybe if I hurt myself on purpose, the pain won’t be so excruciating. With the way things are going, I’m considering running away because my tolerance level has been put on its lowest due to everyone trying to help me with my ‘problem’ as they say. I don’t see it as a problem, I see it as a way of life and I’m sure that I will soon enough be over it but I wouldn’t go to the extreme of calling the mental institution and sending me away which is what my parents have threatened me with. This is because, the other day I tried to rightly accuse my step-dad of abusing me, to my mum and did she believe me? No, not at all!

Dear diary...I want my dad back. Ever since the divorce and when mom met my step-dad I knew there would be something wrong – and I was right. He tells me that he does it because he loves me or would I rather he did it to my mother? It’s kind of bribery as well as abuse but I have had enough and when I tried telling my mother he laughed out loud. How do you laugh out loud at something as serious as that? My mom refuses to believe there is something weird about her ‘boyfriend’ but if she knew the truth, only if she knew...

Shooting script

Welcome to My World

SOPHIE (V.O., THROUGHOUT)
(Various words picked out from the diary, finishing with
“And I just feel so alone”.)

INT. BEDROOM – LATE EVENING

Sophie walks into her bedroom and sits at the desk. She opens the diary, which has the title “Welcome to MY World” on the cover, and flicks through several pages, which contain the credits and the first page of writing.

INT. BATHROOM – EARLY EVENING

Sophie is sitting on the closed lid of the toilet, holding an open pair of scissors to her arm, preparing to cut herself. She hesitates, then closes the scissors, putting them down on the edge of the sink.

INT. BEDROOM – LATE EVENING

Sophie turns the page of her diary and picks up the scissors on her desk with her left hand, looks at them, and puts them back again.

INT. DINING ROOM – EARLY EVENING

Sophie is sitting at the table at dinner with her parents. She is not eating; instead pushing the food around on her plate.

FATHER
Sophie, eat your dinner.

SOPHIE
I'm not hungry.

FATHER
I don't care if you're hungry or not, eat it!

MOTHER
Just eat it, sweetheart.

SOPHIE
I'm not hungry!

Sophie gets up to leave.

FATHER
Sit down and eat it.

Sophie runs out of the room.

INT. BEDROOM – LATE EVENING

Sophie looks down at her right hand, wrapped in a bandage. She pulls down her sleeve to cover it, and turns another page of her diary.

INT. BATHROOM – EARLY EVENING

Sophie slits her right wrist.

INT. BEDROOM – LATE EVENING

Sophie's tears fall on the diary and smudge the ink.

EXT. SCHOOL PLAYGROUND – LUNCH

Sophie is leaning against a wall, standing with a group of friends, who are talking amongst themselves. None of them speaks to Sophie.

EXT. SCHOOL PLAYGROUND – EARLY AFTERNOON

Sophie is still where she was earlier, but the playground is now empty. Sophie pushes herself up and walks across the empty playground to the gates.

INT. BEDROOM – LATE EVENING

Sophie gets up and walks to her bed, lifts a sheet and takes a bottle of alcohol. There are several other bottles, full and empty, under the bed. Sophie walks back to the desk, opens the bottle, and drinks. She turns another page of the diary.

INT. BEDROOM – NIGHT (ALT #1)

Sophie is lying on her bed, face down, screaming into her pillow.

INT. BEDROOM – NIGHT (ALT #2)

Sophie is lying face down on her bed, crying.

INT. BEDROOM – LATE EVENING

Sophie turns another page of the diary, and removes a plaster from her arm. Blood drips onto the diary. She puts the plaster back on.

INT. BEDROOM – NIGHT

Sophie's father is standing in the doorway to her bedroom. Sophie is sat on the bed, duvet pulled around her, looking scared.

INT. BEDROOM – LATE EVENING

Sophie closes the diary, turns off the light, and gets into bed. She lies awake, staring at the ceiling.

Start of film

Mise-en-sceney...basic ideas...

The Mise-en-scene
Characters
Sophie = She is a 14 year old girl suffering with major depression. She is also a victim of domestic violence. She self-harms to release the pain she is feeling. She is down and dejected the majority of the time, doesn’t enjoy life, cries often and gets angry easily.
Actors
I will be acting in it as the central character Sophie. We will also require two adults to play her parents.
Costumes
Sophie = jeans, long sleeves tops, little/or no make-up. The long sleeves top is because she wants to hide her scars, she doesn't care much about her appearance due to her depression so no make up a simple clothes. However we want to portray as a normal girl, so the clothes are going to be those that could be worn by a 14 year old.
Props
We will be using some equipment as props in our films opening sequence. We will need the following items:
Scissors = these are will be used to when we show a shot of the character Sophie cutting herself.
Diary = Sophie will be seen writing her thoughts down in a diary.
Cutlery and food = Sophie will be shown with her parents not being able to eat her food.
Music
We have been discussing music we will want playing for some parts of our opening film sequence. We came up with numerous song possibilities including ‘Concrete Angel’, ‘Low’, ‘Be my escape’.
However, as I can play the piano, we will probably record our own score for the film sequence.

The real deal has begun!!!!

We have started the work for our opening sequence. The title of our film is going to be called 'Welcome to my world.'

We came up with a few ideas for the title diary design, the above picture is the one we decided to use...the rest, below, are so design ideas we came up with but didn't use in the end. We chose the first design because it was simple and we didn't think the character would have fancy writing.

Genres

The genre of our film is going to be a melodrama.
Melodrama

" Melodramatic Films are a sub-type of drama films, characterized by a plot to appeal to the heightened emotions of the audience. Melodrama, a combination of drama and melos (music), literally means "play with music." The themes of dramas, the oldest literary and stage art form, were exaggerated within melodramas, and the liberal use of music often enhanced their emotional plots. Often, film studies criticism used the term 'melodrama' pejoratively to connote an unrealistic, pathos-filled, campy tale of romance or domestic situations with stereotypical characters (often including a central female character) that would directly appeal to feminine audiences. "

Found at: http://www.filmsite.org/melodramafilms.html

Genre Conventions of a Melodrama.

Found at: http://www.lundwood.u-net.com/dissy/melo.htm·

" Music – characters in a melodrama often have trouble expressing their feelings directly, so music is used to enhance their emotions for the benefit of the audience.· Social Pressures and the inability to act – Often, in a melodrama, the main character is under pressure within society – to behave in a certain way, to achieve certain things, etc. This is connected to the way in which the protagonist is unable to act on their situation and consequently escape it. Because of the limits of the conflicts within a melodrama, the catharsis, rather than a confrontation between several characters, becomes a sort of violence turned by the protagonist against herself as the result of an inner conflict, and the masochism is demonstrated by a dependency on alcohol and other forms of release.· Characterisations and stereotypes – Characters within the melodrama are generally very “two-dimensional” and can be categorised simply into “Good and Evil, Innocence and Villainy” (Elsaesser). However, these character types are represented in a way the audience can relate to, therefore building on the characters a little more, to create some humanity. Stereotypes and situations are juxtaposed in unusual ways to encourage clashes between characters and contexts.· The privileging of the victim – melodrama considers the powerless to be on the “good” side, and those in power and control to be more “evil”. The victim is female, and the villain male.· The quick swing between emotional extremes – emotions and tensions change very quickly in a melodrama. Characters expecting a “happily ever after” are flung into more misery, a rising sense of happiness suddenly sways to once again be upsetting. "

However we did consider other genres as well. Here is a description of a few of genres we could have chosen...

• Romance


• Drama


• Action/Adventure


• Comedy


• Horror/Thriller


• Supernatural


• Crime/Detective


• Animation


• Western


• Musicals


• Rom-Com


• Film Noir


• War


• 'Chick' flicks

Directors commentary...and don't they like to comment...

I have been listening to the Directors commentaries for several opening sequences of films...and from this I have learnt more about production of the films.
Here are some examples of comments from Directors about their films, which game me more insight into film making.

Mrs Henderson Presents
Director Stephen Frears talking. Quotes I collected from him about the opening...
"I went around for a year; asking if this was the kind of film which had an overture on it. When I was young films used to have overtures. After a year I realised the answer was yes. But of course if you have an overture, you have to have something on the screen, which I hadn’t allowed for in what I was shooting. So then we designed the sequence, and a wonderful Italian boy, a lot of young people made this sequence. Which always reminds me of March brothers films. Films made by Paramount in the 30’s."

"The reason why I was asking the question about the overture, was that you could either say from the beginning it was the kind of musical, or of course, you could have done it as a drama which then half way through the musical bit started as a surprise."

"Oh I like this shot, it’s like, the opening of ‘Unforgiven’ a Clint Eastwood film."

"The reason it says inspired by true events was, there was always an argument about, whether the fact it was a real story was important or not. I of course in choosing to have those credits wanted the film to take place in a sort of place where musicals take place, which of course is a complete contradiction to real life."

Our preliminary video is ready!!!!!!...wooooooo!!!!!!

We have now created our preliminary piece of film, here it is:


Strength and Weaknesses from the preliminary

Strengths:

• We used a variety of shots in the piece of flim. Different camera angles and shots were used. We discussed what shots we would use before filming, making it easier when it came to shooting and editing.
• We made the piece look authentic by using appropriate costumes for characters and filming it in a realistic location.
• We were able to create an interesting piece of film for the preliminary piece, which allowed us to practice skills we will need for the real piece.

Weaknesses:

• We didn't add music to the piece, this is something we can improve in our real opening sequence. Music would have helped to create a better atmosphere.
• We should have used less long shots and experimented with other types of shots.
• Using a tripod would have insured the shots weren't shaky, unfortunately at the time of filiming, the tripods weren't available.

Every member of a group had an input into the editing and we had to make a decision of what clips to use and any transactions between the clips.

Here are some screen caps from our video:



Long Shot










Long Shot











Long Shot

Low-angled close up













Close-up/Mid-shot










Close-up looking straight at the camera

A mid shot

180 degree rule!!

There is a rule about 'crossing the line' which is about shooting consequtive shots from alternate sides. Through watching some youtube videos such as:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNOT9iHDSXU and www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdyyuqmCW14

I was able to understand more about the rule...well considering I didn't know anything about it beforehand...that's not too hard, but that's beside the point...

In film making terms, the 180 degree rule is extremely important in providing continuity. When filming you must ensure the characters stay on the correct side and must have the same left/right.

Another aspect of the rule is that the nearer the 180 degree axis is to the camera, the closer the audience feel to a character and the POV for the audience is the same as the characters.

Discussing the preliminary

Today we did more planning for our preliminary work, which we plan to shoot tomorrow.
We already have the storyboard:

Our preliminary will be filmed in an abandoned science block in our school, down a corridor. We can control the lighting easily here and we won't disturb people when filming because we will because nobody uses the building anymore. So it seems ideal. The plan is that Kay and my character will sit down at a table and have a secret conversation. I will demand that she follows my orders and I give her a key. Then the lights flicker on and we look down the corridor and nobody is there. Then we carry on the conversation and suddenly we look back and a man is standing there, having found them.

We have figured out the location we will shoot this 20 second bit of film, have discussed camera angles, costume, if any props are needing...

My character is a bully, and has terrorised Kay's character, to commit a criminal offence for her. Sam's character is vulnerable and frightened. We have used a hoody and dark make-up for my character, to try and create an 'ugly and violent' character, where as Sam wheres normal, every day clothes.

We aren't using many props, only: a table, two chairs and a key.

Oh yeeees, the script is sorted too...these are the lines:

Kay is sitting in the room. She glances at her watch and gets up to leave, just as Lucy walks in

L: Going somewhere? Scared?

K: Um...no...

Lucy walks in and they both sit down

L: Having second thoughts, are we?

K: Of course not, I just...

L: Nobody backs out of my business.

K: I didn't mean -

The lights tun on. They both get up and look down the corridor, but nobody is there. They turn away.

L: If you tell anyone about this, I will kill you.

There is a long pause and they tun to face the corridor, a man is standing there.

Ooooooh...Harry's on youtube!!!!!

I managed to find part of the opening 'Dirty Harry' sequence on youtube...(dead proud of myself by the way - can actually work youtube now -good stuff). Anyway here is a link to the video and some opinions from a few people who have commented on the vid :D
www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkMlGARPsxk

Good old Harry.

At the beginning of the schooling year, I watched various opening sequences of films, including...'Dirty Harry'

Here is my textual analysis for 'Dirty Harry' in this I have discussed a variety of media terminology

Analyse the opening sequence of ‘Dirty Harry’ (1971) using the framework...
The opening sequence of the cop-thriller, Dirty Harry, includes a variety of camera shots, angles and movements along with skilfully arranged editing, music, sound, lighting, ideology, mise-en-scene, representation, dialogue and production design to showcase the film to the viewer to generate interest right from the start.
We are firstly transmitted an image, where the camera zooms in to the words ‘In tribute to the police officers of San Francisco who have their lives in the line of duty’, this establishes where the location of the film is and the non-diegetic sound of the church bells create a melancholy atmosphere to these words, insinuates a theme of loss and mourning and conditions our expectations for some poignant occurrences in the film. The writing combined with the sound helps the viewer to comprehend who we are meant to support in the film - the ‘Cops’.
Next we view a slow dissolve to an image of a shining police badge which stays central to the screen appears, whilst the camera scroll down a list of names and dates of people who have been killed whilst working as police officers, this is set on a grey background, representing a gravestone, which could be seen as a sign of respect and a tribute to these police officers. The amount of names displayed, saddens us and makes us wonder whether it maybe foreseeing the outcome of someone in the film we are about to watch.
This fades and dissolves, and a soundtrack begins to play. It is modern, tense and feels abnormal; drums and symbols can be distinguished amongst the sound. We then view footage of a gun in at an interesting angle, it isn’t pointing directly at us which makes it less intimidating for the viewer, and however it is clearly aiming at a potential victim. We can also establish how the low angle of the camera has been used to purposely obscure the shooters face. The Director has used mise-en-scene with this, hoping to create a sense of mystery and ambiguity.
We see the view of the shooter; he is aiming at an attractive woman in a bright yellow swimming costume near a swimming pool. She is being followed by the snippier riffle; the camera pans her movements as we are shown medium shots as she dives into the swimming pool.
The camera zooms out slowly to show an overview of the city, the extreme wide shot is used as an establishing shot to show the location, whilst film an over the shoulder shot of the shooter places the two characters into context with each other. The over the shoulder shot once again means we are only able to see the back of the man firing the gun and not the face which increases tension and suspense. We then cut back to the camera panning the woman, swimming in the pool.
Suddenly – for a fraction of a second – we see a close-up of the trigger being pulled, and then there is a long shot of the girl drowning in the pool.
We then cut to a man named Harry, walking up some steps, then he pauses in front of the camera, so we can admire him and to show he is protagonist of the film. The title ‘Clint Eastwood’ in bright yellow writing appears on the screen. The lack of emotion on his face, despite the close-up, helps to represent him as ‘tough’ and not easily broken down. Eastwood is renowned for being a ‘cool’ guy and at the time the film was created most would associate him with this, many women liked him, whilst plenty of men wanted to be like him. Through the costume and appearance: shades, expensive suit, well-groomed, posh jacket, we receive a clear message on how the director is trying to portray the masculinity character to the viewer. Harry is a stereotyped character of a promoted detective.
The words ‘Dirty Harry’ appear on the screen. The words ‘Dirty’ is in orange which is an alternate colour to use, compared to the yellow colour scheme of all the other names. This amplifies the word, and expresses the contamination in its meaning.
The detective and Harry our captured in a two-shot, as Harry walks around the swimming pool, then stops at the body, near the detective. He purposely looks up at the sky scrapper the killer had aimed from.
Next we get a cut to Harry walking down the road, the camera pans his movement, the stops and tilts upwards slowly to show the sky scrapper, whilst more names appear on the bottom of the screen. The music has changed since Harry appeared and we are now presented with a funky track, this helps to influence our perception of the character – helps to make him ‘cool’. We see him climb us stairs and hear the diegetic noise of a fan; the fan is angled in a low shot. The fan also implies the hot weather in San Francisco, and what people there require to cool down.
The camera then pans Harry walking around a roof top. We are given a wide-angled shot, so we are able to see the city surrounding the building, giving the idea of the grandness and scale of the city. We are able to distinguish that it is actually the place where the killer was standing earlier, it establishes his flair as a detective. We see Harry find the bullet, then there is a close-up of the bullet, so we can see it clearly, as he places it in a bad.
The Director decided not to have a voice over, so we pay more attention to the action in the film, and it helps to create the require suspense. The only dialogue in the opening sequence is ‘Jesus’, when he finds a later, this is effective, as it shows us dialogue is about to begin.

Meanings in Media...

Northallerton College provided us with good clear, yet detailed explanations of terms used when making films.

Camera Shots

"Close-up In the close-up shot, a certain feature or part of the subject takes up most of the frame. A close up of a person usually means a close up of their face (unless specified otherwise).Close-ups are obviously useful for showing detail and can also be used as a cut-in.A close-up of a person emphasizes their emotional state. Whereas a mid-shot or wide-shot is more appropriate for delivering facts and general information, a close-up exaggerates facial expressions which convey emotion. The viewer is drawn into the subject's personal space and shares their feelings."

"Mid-shot The mid shot shows some part of the subject in more detail, whilst still showing enough for the audience to feel as if they were looking at the whole subject. In fact, this is an approximation of how you would see a person "in the flesh" if you were having a casual conversation. You wouldn't be paying any attention to their lower body, so that part of the picture is unnecessary.
The MS is appropriate when the subject is speaking without too much emotion or intense concentration. It also works well when the intent is to deliver information, which is why it is frequently used by television news presenters. You will often see a story begin with a MS of the reporter (providing information), followed by closer shots of interview subjects (providing reactions and emotion).
As well as being a comfortable, emotionally neutral shot, the mid shot allows room for hand gestures and a bit of movement."

"Long-shot/Wide-shot In a long shot, when referring to a person, a long shot means they take up almost the full frame height.In other situations it means a wide shot of the whole scene, placing the subjects in their environment. "

"Two-Shot There are a few variations on this one, but the basic idea is to have a comfortable shot of two people. Often used in interviews, or when two presenters are hosting a show. A "One-Shot" could be a mid-shot of either of these subjects. A "Three-Shot", unsurprisingly, contains three people.
Two-shots are good for establishing a relationship between subjects. If you see two sports presenters standing side by side facing the camera, you get the idea that these people are going to be the show's co-hosts. As they have equal prominence in the frame, the implication is that they will provide equal input. A two-shot could also involve movement or action. It is a good way to follow the interaction between two people without getting distracted by their surroundings."

Angles

"High Angle A high angle shows the subject from above, i.e. the camera is angled down towards the subject. This has the effect of diminishing the subject, making them appear less powerful, less significant or even submissive."

"Low Angle This shows the subject from below, giving them the impression of being more powerful or dominant."

"Eye-Level This is the most common view, being the real-world angle that we are all used to. It shows subjects as we would expect to see them in real life. It is a fairly neutral shot."

"Bird's Eye The scene is shown from directly above. This is a completely different and somewhat unnatural point of view which can be used for dramatic effect or for showing a different spatial perspective.
In drama it can be used to show the positions and motions of different characters and objects, enabling the viewer to see things the characters can't.
The bird's-eye view is also very useful in sports, documentaries, etc."