Location (final)

The following are images we took of our final location (Bishop’s Stortford train station). This was before our initial filming. therefore we were able to look at the location before planning how we would film using this space, whilst doing this we realised rather than filming on a train which would be very difficult, we would have to film at the station itself.  Because of the slight changes we made to the location, we needed to edit the storyboard and script.

A train

The platform

 

Alicia Fuat

 

Due to the fact that we were unable to film at Bishop’s Stortford station, we moved our location to Stansted Mountfitchet. This location still fit our idea of the set, as it was small and there wasn’t many people around. Also, as there weren’t many people, this allowed us to film without interruptions, however, the platform was quite small. Due to this, we changed the storyboard and script to create our final versions. The set of stairs over-looking the platform, and the long distance to the bench became idea for filming Lucy’s walk towards James at the start of the sequence.

 

Alice Dew

Costumes (final)

For our final costumes we wanted to be a bit more creative with what we chose. We wanted them to both look like smart business people that were from the middle to upper class rather than the working class. To show this representation we looked at films that had smart business costumes worn by characters that were following a romantic storyline.

A film that we looked at was The Proposal. This film involves two characters that happen to fall in love with one another within their work place. Both are seen wearing smart clothing that also has connotations of romance. These connotations can be seen through the woman’s heels and the gentlemen’s burgundy tie.

 

After seeing the way The Proposal used their costume to represent love and romance we decided to give our characters costumes that would do the same. We got Arriyan to wear a red tie like the one in the image below, and Ellie to wear a tight pencil skirt to show off her womanly attributes. Without these specific costumes, the storyline wouldn’t have been as easy to carry out as the romance and sexual appeal would not have been there. The audience would also not understand some of the lines such as when James says he has an interview at Morgan and Stanely if the characters were not addressed appropriately.

Here are screenshots of the actual costumes worn by Arriyan and Ellie.

Arriyan

• Red Tie – connotations of love, and also represents warning suggesting something tragic could possibly happen.
• Grey Blazer – typical of business men, shows he has taste. A black blazer would’ve made his personality seem dull, whereas the grey enables his face and features to stand out more.
• Black Suit Trousers – also typical of business men. The tight fit shows off his height, which is liked by women.

Ellie

• Low Cut Blouse – Makes her seem smart, but also makes her seem sexually appealing to males.
• Tight Tube Skirt – Shows of her womanly attributes such as her curves.
• Tights – suited the weather as it was gloomy, but also makes her seem reserved and professional.

Alicia Fuat

Group Planning

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Here are some screenshots of the iMessage group we created. Here we often discuss what needs to be done and how we are going to do it. It became our main means of contact throughout the pre-production process as we had to have frequent conversation to make sure everything that was needed to be done got completed.

Later in the process, we set up a whatsapp group with myself, Alicia and Jasmin. Then a second group including Arriyan and Ellie as they didn’t have imessage. This allowed us to plan our filming efficiently and with minimal hassle.

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Throughout production, using Microsoft Excel 2013, I created a schedule, so the group knew what had and hadn’t been done, and who was planned to do it. We found this was an easy method of making sure everyone knew what they had to do, otherwise it was easy to forget. It also helped during filming, as we knew our drafts were due by our own personal deadlines, and this helped us to stick as close to it as possible, without rushing at the last minute.

Schedule

Alice Dew

Step-Brothers

The clip begins with an opening sequence using a quote from George Bush. The white text on black background is just there to aesthetically please the audience and interest them into continue watching. More text then follows this for example all the people/ companies involved in production are named. There is an ambient sound of rustling, which the audience are then lead to see is food being prepared. This is shown by using an extreme close up of the food in the shot. The scene is set in a kitchen; the audience can see this from the props used: a microwave, plates and food.

A song then begins to play as the scene progresses and credits begin to appear on the clip in white writing. The camera seems to be steadicam and from a point of view shot. For example when the first male character enters the scene the camera is inside the microwave looking face on at the character from a medium long shot.

The scene then cuts to another activity happening, using parallel editing as two situations are being shown at the same time. The credits are still appearing over the scene. The audience are introduced to a second male character who is searching through clothing props. The scene then cuts back to character one, the same song is played. The character then changes scenery to the living room and is shown to be watching television and eating the food he has previously been preparing from a medium long shot.

The music then fades out as a female character enters to create a two shot. The credits are still appearing. The woman initiates the first pieces of dialogue in the clip; there is then an exchange of dialogue. The shot then pans to follow the woman leave the scene. The music then becomes louder again, this technique is effective as the audience are able to focus on what is happening in the scene, as opposed to having to concentrate on a large amount of dialogue. The parallel editing Is then shown again as the focus of the scene changes again to the second character, who is using props such as a guitar hero game. This character is also wearing costume which is too small for him which sets up a comedic theme for the film. And the shot is filmed from over the shoulder as more actors’ names are shown over the scene.

The shot changes so that the audience can see a third male character enter the scene through a doorway. The music quietens again as there is a dialogue exchange between these two characters. There is then another cut to a different scene, which is a conference. The camera pans over the audience then focuses to a medium long shot of the third male character who is conducting the presentation. The music then fades again and allows the dialogue to overpower it. While the man is speaking he loses track and says something out of place which is again comical.

The scene finishes as it cuts to the next clip. There is a close up of the male and female characters kissing as the music comes back and the pace of the camera movement and scene itself seems to speed up. This technique is successful as the pace of the clip speeds up towards the end of the opening which keeps the audience interested.

Jasmin Mcdonald

Saving Private Ryan

Before the audience are introduced into any mise en scene or characters, the title of the film and main character credits are shown briefly. This is supported by no music and is there to inform the audience, and only this as the font is very plain. As well as this there is white writing on a dark background, which is unusual and is perhaps used to highlight the actor’s names and the title of the film.

As the scene opens there is the image of an American flag rippling in the wind. It fills up the screen, which exaggerates e importance of the flag to the audience. Also the sound of trumpets begins playing as the flag fills the screen. The trumpets signify a military tone to the scene. The absence of any characters at this point highlights the fact that the music and image are for memorial purposes, and exemplifies the feeling of sadness to the audience. The music then abruptly stops and the rippling becomes more intense.

Following on from this the scene changes to an over the shoulder shot of a family following the grandpa. (The camera is tracking the characters). They are walking down a busy pathway, in silence. There are trees and greenery surrounding the pathway. Background noises such as footsteps and mutterings of extras are the main sounds in this part of the scene. This exaggerates the severity of the opening of the film and foreshadows the severity of the whole film. In terms of the location and set there is a nature essence as there are trees and grass, this complements the silence as for example the setting was dark and unnatural it would be out of place. I think this is a good technique to use as the calm mood being set up by the film is also setting a calm mood for the audience.

The music then returns and the shot turn to a close up, of from what the audience has seen, of the main character. The characters at this point are all stationary. The characters are all in casual clothes, and at this point are all stood behind the main character, which again gives the audience the idea of his importance. The scenery is mainly dismissed at this point to highlight the facial expression on the old man’s face which seems to be sadness/recollection. This implies to the audience that there is going to be a flashback of the actual story to outline the context of the current situation.

Apart from the immediate cut from the flag to the scene at the beginning of the clip, there has been continuity editing from what I can see (not many editing features up to this point). The lack of editing techniques could be to amplify the sensitivity of where the characters are, for example the use of a jump cut in this opening clip would be inappropriate to the context.

The shot then changes, first the audience are shown the American flag using Steadicam, then the image cuts to a shot of the French flag. Both flags are rippling in the wind. The trumpet music is still playing (again continuing with the theme of war/memorial) the shot then returns to a close up of the old man as he begins moving, the camera tracks the character as he does this. The scene then changes to an extreme long shot as the family begin to walk over an open field. As they are walking, headstones are beginning to make up the scenery the audience then realise that all the connotations to do with war and remembrance are relevant to the scene.

The man is frantically looking around and looks uneasy. He then walks past a stationary character dressed in formal wear that seems to have medals on his blazer; the scene is now full of cross shaped headstones which create tranquillity. (In the background there are a man and a boy walking hand and hand through the field).

The scene then focuses again on the man, his family are seen from over his shoulder as he approaches a specific headstone and breaks down on to his knees. The sound of choking and crying escapes the man as his family are seen in the shot to hurry over and comfort him.

The trumpets continue to play and take the role of the primary sound in this opening scene. The camera pans the field with headstones, and then goes to some close up shots of a few headstones so the audience can see some names.

The camera then zooms to a close up of the old man’s face, slowly. The zooming continues into an extreme close up. The scene is then overtaken by the sound of waves and cuts straight into the next scene at the end of the extract, which begins the build up of drama for the action scene that follows the opening.

Jasmin McDonald

CLUELESS

The film Clueless was released in 1998 and is about the life of a young girl named Cher. The opening of the film involves Cher and her friends doing what they’d normally do through their day. However, the scene then skips to Cher getting ready in the morning choosing her outfit for the day using an electronic wardrobe system. Throughout the opening sequence we are shown scenes that occur during her morning, although Cher herself does not always feature in them. Instead, her voice is used as a voice over of her thoughts. The opening sequence then skips to Cher and her friend Deon at school gossiping, meanwhile once again, Cher’s thoughts are used as a voiceover. Before all of the action however, there are the titles and credits. They have been put in bright bold colours which could be done to catch the eyes of the audience, the font has also been put in contrasting colours to the background to make them stand out even more.

Camerawork 

The camerawork in Clueless starts off using a Birdseye view of the tops of the girls heads therefore enabling the audience to see that they are in a car. It then moves into a midst of Cher carrying shopping bags, whilst this is occurring the camera is also tracking her as she walks. Next, there is a montage of a number of shots of Cher and her friends. Furthermore, the camera is held at a slight low angle of Cher which may be done to suggest her popularity and superiority over others. This angle continues onto the next clip to also show superiority.

In addition to this, the camera does a pan of a whole pool party scene which has more than likely been done to create an atmosphere and set the scene for the audience. The camera then goes back to the clip filmed at the very beginning which continues as a Birdseye view. Following this, an over the shoulder shot of Cher looking at herself in the mirror is shown, which in a way acts as a point of view shot. Although, it does suggest that we as the audience are not important enough to view her exact view point which results in us being behind her as though we are her friends rather than her.

Whats more, a two shot occurs when Cher and her father have a conversation, this is done to show that they hold a relationship. The camera shot then moves on to a close up of both their faces when they get into a heated argument, therefore we get a better sense of their feelings through their facial expressions.

Finally, at the end of the opening sequence a high angle of Cher in her car is panned across the screen to give the feeling of motion of her in the moving car.

Sound

Firstly, the sound is mainly upbeat stereotypical girls music, which sets the atmosphere of happiness and excitement. But, the music is joined by the laughter of the girls in the car which also links to the idea of happiness. Once the clip changes from Cher being out and about with friends to being alone in her room, the music changes from upbeat to quite calm, slow and very techno, due to the fact that she is in her ‘element’ choosing an outfit from an electronic wardrobe machine. The music also repeats ‘fashion’ over and over as it relates to what is being observed in the scene. Secondly, Cher as a voice over of her father walking down the stairs states that he is “terrifying” and the maid who is viewed at the bottom of the stairs makes a worried scream to show his power. The fact that the maid is shown beneath the father at the bottom also implies she lacks importance and he holds authority over her. Thirdly, when Cher and her father are in shot together the music become fun and comedic, to represent the awkward father, daughter relationship.

Editing

Firstly, there is a montage of different clips of Cher and her friends, to give the audience a feel of their characters in a  short space of time. There is then numerous wipes, which occur when the car drives past the screen. The car represents the wipe and a new clip is then shown straight after. Furthermore, when we view Cher and her father having the argument each time to shot swaps from face to face it has been edited so that their eyeliner match up even though they have been taking in completely different shots and not in continuity.

Mise en Scene

The main locations throughout the opening sequence are Cher’s house and her car.The costumes worn by the characters are very 1980’s, as the girls are wearing things such as tartan skirts in obscure colours with matching blazers and the men are wearing suits. These outfits represent them as being rather wealthy and from a well educated family. All of the young characters have been dressed to look as though they are average teenagers who attend a regular school. Therefore this film does not need to include and extreme styles of makeup of costumes, especially as the content of the film is based on a girls daily life rather than say a horror film.

Alicia Fuat

EDWARD SCISSOR HANDS

For the titles and credits the font used is very Tim Burton-esque, the colour of it is white, which contrasts the cold and slightly blue background of the title sequence. The effect of using this font adds to the audience subconsciously forming an image for the atmosphere of the film. The whole of the titles and credits have been done in a cold grey/blue colour, this is then is backed up by the first shot of snow which adds to the cold effect and there is a very little amount of lighting. This gives the whole atmosphere a very eerie feel.

The music used in the background of the title sequence is very circus/child like as, which gives the beginning of the film quite a creepy feel and makes us as the audience suspect that something bad is going to happen. It also makes it seem as though the film is going to be quite sweet and innocent however the actual scene being played in sync with the music says the opposite. Most of the camera work during the opening titles is panning and continuous. Everything on the screen is continually moving and there isn’t a moment where the camera is still. This gives the effect of telling a story, and that the film is going to progress into something much more than what we have already viewed.

There’s a part in the title sequence where shapes flash and then come together and fall, which also give it a slightly childlike characteristic. Then when the film starts, the setting is a little girl’s bedroom where there is a burning fire and toys at the end of the bed. This instantly feels more homely, and humble than the last scene and also gives a reason for there being the childlike music in the titles and credits.

When the scene changes to an disturbingly over emphasised American suburb with pastel painted houses and an 80s style of perfection it greatly contrasts all of the scenes that we had viewed previously. This is used again to give the audience another idea of what to expect in the upcoming scenes. It feels very much like a waltz as well as this the music could be best described as twinkly with an eerie element to it. There is also choral singing, which can be heard, but there are not any words to the song. When the Grandmother character at the beginning starts to tell her story the choir singing can be heard once again and it creates a magical feeling.

Once the film properly starts we can see an over the shoulder long shot of a mansion on top of a hill from Grandmother’s perspective. For a lot of scenes that we observe that include some type of conversation, most of the scene will be shot to show the reaction of the listener as opposed to showing the person who’s talking which is unusual. For example, when Grandmother is telling the little girl at the beginning a story, we see the little girl facial expressions as the story is being told.

There is another over the shoulder shot as we see Edward looking over the town and aerial shots are used to move from one area of the town to another. This allows us as the audience to understand what is occurring. Establishing shots are also used quite a bit in the form of a suburb or van parked outside a house. Blackouts are used between each new panning shot in the title sequence so that the scene is able to completely change.

Transitions are in the form of moving aerial shots. The only cut between scenes is when it dramatically changes to the one of the suburb to show a definite distinction between the two different sections of the story. They fade in, slowly rotate slightly and then fade back out again. A couple of them, the title of the film for example, undertake an animation sequence whereby the split in the fashion of a pair of scissors. Edward is represented by the cold and snowy manor used in the title sequence and the pale on dark colours used. The mechanical movements of the objects in the title sequence add an element of supernatural and man made to his character. The little girl seeps innocence by her tone of voice and the setting of her bedroom. The people living in the suburb reflect the setting in the way that they are over the top in a seemingly perfect way. The Grandmother is portrayed as an old but wise character from her tone of voice and the fact that she’s telling a story also suggests this. It makes the viewer feel kind of shivery and they know it’s going to be a little bit peculiar.

Alicia Fuat

First Draft

Above is the first draft of “Love, Lucy”.

For our initial Filming we went to Bishops Stortford train station. We bought a ticket, thinking we were going to film on the train itself, however we soon realised this would be hard to achieve so we filmed on the platform. We then ran into our second problem, the camera ran out of charge, we therefore had to use our phone. This caused our first draft to be of lower standard than expected, as the sound wasn’t picked up as well as we wanted it to etc. We managed to film a first draft though.

The following are proof pictures of our filming.

Alicia Fuat

Full Film Synopsis

Title is shown for a second time, this time with music

The scene has moved on several days from the train station.

Audience sees James In his house holding a locket presumably left behind by Lucy (he is holding it and studying it intently)

Voiceover of James describing that “he doesn’t know where she went, but she never came back”

He googles the locket, and fails to find any information – then realises the locket is able to open and discovers a photo

From the photo he is able to discover basic information about Lucy, but every location he goes to Lucy seems to be moving one place ahead of him.

The film goes on and James is finally able to work out where Lucy is heading. he finds out information about her mysterious life.

To end they both meet and he she explains that she can’t be with him. but tells her all the information he has found out and they kiss and the screen fades to black and music begins to play, final credits begin to be shown on the screen.

Storyboard

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After drafting this storyboard, we changed our script, which meant some changes had to be made to the storyboard. However, we then realised that filming on a train would be very difficult, therefore we decided that the location planned would need to change, also we decided more detail would be needed in the final storyboard so we would have a closer reference whilst filming.

We decided to use a YouTube tutorial (seen below) to assist in drawing the storyboard, we found it helped with drawing angles and how to describe the scene we want to depict. We also learnt that although the diagram ca be simple, it needs to clearly show what is happening in the scene and the scene after follows it in a smooth fashion, not leaving large periods of the sequence un-storyboarded.

Final Storyboard