Fridays' filming

We started filming Friday lunchtime. Jasmine and I managed to get some of the shots we wanted to use in the opening. We had a tripod problem which meant most of our shots were shaky so we need to retake them. Today we plan on taking our underwater shots with the scuba divers using their underwater camera after school.

Production progress

I spoke to one of the scuba instructors and he said they have underwater cameras and that we can use them. We are going to need the help of one of the divers in order to film underwater so we are going to ask Ella. We also have all the sound effects needed for the opening for example the gunshot. All the sounds we are using are from freesound.org therefore they are copyright free.

Progress Report

After hiring our main actress, setting filming dates and reserving cameras we felt we were making progress. Some of our scenes involved children in the swimming pool in school, and so we therefore had to gain their permission and the permission of the parents to gain any footage. After much deliberation and careful planning, I eventually got round to typing letters of permission. Although we are allowed to shoot the footage without permission, we are not allowed to release, view, analyse or distribute it without. We are curently waiting on the return of the reply slips so we know where we stand, but we have decided that the majority verdict will win, and if the majority decline our request then we have to reinvent the scenes. If the minority - however - tell us no, then we must find a way to eliminate them from the scenes. To add more to our opening, we also gave the students a chance to appear in a scene where they will be indentifiable.

How we are getting on with our production

We have organised meeting tomorrow (Tuesday 24th, 12:30) at lunch time in order to try to film the majority of our production. However, because some of our opening sequence is set at night time, we have also had to book the cameras for after school on the same day. If we do not finish filming after Tuesday, we will also film on both Wednesday and Friday lunch time.
Because we want to use children in a few of our shots, we will have to distribute letters to their parents, so are therefore trying to sort that out.
We have completed all of the things on the To Do list which we created on Friday 13th's lesson, as well as our storyboard, which means that all we have left to do is scan our storyboard onto the computer, film and edit our production.

To add to the To Do List from Friday

We also need to find a lifeguard outfit, and have managed to get further in some arrangements with regard to this, because we are looking to borrow one from Nicola's friend.

Monday's activities

I started working on the music today. I found some music clips on www.freeplaymusic.com and tried to blend them together using windows movie maker. I then wanted to finish making the soundtrack on one of the Mac computers but it wouldnt open, so I migth have to use Final cut to make the soundtrack. I also wanted to ask Ms Potter about under-water media because I think using some under-water shot would be very effective but I couldnt find her.

Friday's lesson

In Friday’s lesson we finished our storyboard and created a To-do list.

1) We need to ask Ms Potter permission to use the pool
2) Ask a class permission to take some shots of them swimming
3) Make arrangements with our lead actress on suitable filming schedule.

Film's Treatment

Faye Ripley has been a temporary lifeguard for a year. Ever since she was young, she strived to be close to water. Her homelife consists of living with an abusive mother and her childhood is a history of neglect. The lake is a sanctuary for Faye and a chance for her to escape the problems of home. When her mother realises the importance of the lake to Faye, she heartlessly attempts to take it away and to deny Faye of her sanctuary. As Faye begins to realise that her mother is denying her a safe haven, she is unable to prevent herself from seeking vengeance...

Product research: No Country for Old Men

The film starts with a voice over of a sheriff telling us about his life and changes he has seen in the town. The first five seconds of the voice over the screen is completely black creating a sense of uncertainty because it is unusual to have a blank screen in a movie. The non-diegetic sound of the sheriff is then placed with a montage of abandoned places and landmarks of the desert. This gives the sheriff a powerful edge and a god complex. In montage we see earlier in the film are all wide shots with straight cuts. The montage also seems to be documenting the sun rise which could reflect the storyline such as; the story starts off in a bad place but ends with hope. You can also hear the faint sound of the wind which not only emphasis how deserted the desert is but also creates a sense of realisms.

Suspense is created by the use of different close ups used to introduce the main characters. In the case of Anton Chigurh we see close ups of the back of his head and his hands by doing this it makes it harder for the audience to guess what he is thinking or what he is going to do because we cant see his face.

The first time we see his face is when he is killing the cop in the station, by doing this the directors are tell us the kind of man he is. The next time we see is face (which you cant see in this extract) is when he is killing the driver he pulled over. They use a lot of close-ups and high shots to create an air of power around him.

After watching this movie we thought it will be a good idea is we incorporate a voice over at the beginning to give the audience a bit of background information.

Product Research - analyzing 'Pacific Heights'

I had the task of analyzing a psychological thriller and so I chose the first 1:53 seconds of Michael Keaton's 'Pacific Heights'. The auteur played the part of Carter Hayes. This 1990 mainstream movie is ironic in its title, as Hayes forces his way into the perfect home and destroys the perfect life; moving into a young couple's first home, he refuses to pay his way and makes their lives hell for trying to eradicate him.

At the start of my YouTube clip, the male lead Drake Goodman is lying on the sofa watching television, falling asleep in mid-shot. The diagetic sound of the T.V and the flashing images all relate to danger and help to build suspense. The slow intercutting of these shots also aids that. The relaxation sets the mood for disruption, with the sound, actions and imaging representing real-time and  'voyeur-like' audience engagement. The shots begin to correlate quicker, engaging the reader for the climax; Patty moves upstairs with the symbolism of danger as she carries a nail-gun, and the screeching of the cat distracts her, leaving the nail-gun in a lengthy mid-shot. The lack of diagetic sound here helps 'prepare' the viewer for the impact, allowing their attention to be concerntrated on nothing but what is actually happening. The house is filled with little natural light, and so the dark filming technique once again suggests danger. As Patty walks down into the cellar, the camera watches from in front in a long-shot, and only the sounds she is making can be heard. After hearing a loud noise resulting in this, both her and the audience are on the edge of their seats. The camera cuts to various shots of destroyed items to emphasis danger, before slowly turning 180 degrees to give a fuller view, engaging the consumer from Patty's perspective. The unsteady camera technique symbolises fear and panic when hearing noises, and Patty's piercing scream and fast inter cuts of the cat chasing the bird awaken the reader to upcoming danger. An unexpected clip of Goodman arises and is fast asleep with Hayes moving slowly behind him in mid-shot. This is the ultimate climax that keeps the viewers watching. There is then one shot of Hayes bringing down the weapon on Goodman in mid-shot before returning to the T.V (picturing a symbolic nuclear explosion), back to him for the second strike and then to the T.V again. The imaging and sound once again reminds and informs the audience of danger, and the drowning of Goodman's screams in the diagetic sound of the T.V emphasise Patty's oblivious approach and also censors the action for suggestion of Thriller (something Thrillers' rely on).

Product Research - Analysis of 'Taxi Driver'

We were told that we had to analyse an existing psychological thriller in detail. Here, I analysed the opening 5 minutes of 'Taxi Driver.' This thriller starts off with the credits which are written in red block capitals on a black background, which could represent the angry and passionate nature (in the sense that he is passionate in wanting to wipe the "scum" off the streets) of the main character. Furthermore, this writing fortifies the idea of 'Taxi Driver' using typical conceptions of its genre. This builds tension from the beginning of the film, thus setting a foreboding atmosphere for the audience. Morevover, the non diegetic music throughout these credits uses percussion instruments whilst the screen is black, and the volume reaches a crescendo when fog and Travis's yellow taxi appear on screen, which presents the idea that the apprehensive nature of the film is solely because of the main character and his problems.

There is then an extreme close up shot of the main character (focused on his eyes), which dehumanises him and hints to the audience that all is not well in his life. The non diegetic sound changes to Blues music (with a saxophone), which reflects his sad, alienated state of mind. When the main character is driving his taxi, the camera uses shots from his point of view, so that we can see what he can see, and possibly understand what he's feeling. This part of the opening uses pathetic fallacy (it is raining), which blurs Travis's - and the audience's - vision. This displays the idea that he sees the world in a different way to the "norm." In addition, the people passing Travis's taxi are all moving in slow motion, which also brings forth the idea that the main character sees everything in a different light. The atmosphere is dark and mysterious to emphasise the psychological thriller genre and to tap into the audience's primal fears.

(This post was created by Jasmine, for some reason my name isn't showing up at the bottom).