Final Ideas and Meetings

After months of repeatedly changing our movie idea trying to think of the perfect one we feel we have finally got it. A teenage drama called Out of Sight about a teenage lad trying to make it in the rap world against all odds.

We presented our idea to other media groups and some peers in our school compared to all our other ideas we have made. They all stressed that they believe this is our best idea and we should go for this. From their encouragement and a small meeting our group had to talk about our movie options we decided to go for Out of Sight.

On Friday afternoon we had a meeting with Mr DeVita our teacher to see our progress so far and to see us progress further. He was happy with our organiastion and what we have done so far but to improve he told us to explain what we wrote and why we wrote it. Taking on board what he has said we have done all of that today.

Main Project Working Outline

Title/working title	Out of Sight
Plot/outline summary	Out of Sight is a film about an older teenager, Tom (Mr. B) around 16 or 17 who is trying to make it big in the rap/music industry but not succeeding. This is not down to his rapping ability, just purely down to his self confidence, skinny and geeky look. He just doesn’t get recognised. From the same city as him, Peterborough, there is already an established rap star named Sam (Sam Sparkz) who is Tom’s favourite artist who he aspires to be like. Sam is already big in the UK rap scene and the biggest thing to come out of Peterborough in years, when Sam sees Tom rising through the ranks throughout the film Sam grows to hate him and does everything he can do to make sure he doesn’t make it big. But as Tom grows in confidence his spirit and his rapping ability shine through as he releases his first song which happens to be very successful. At the end of the film when Tom finally makes it to the level Sam is at instead of fighting with him and taking him down from the spotlight he decides to collaborate with his idol and Sam can only accept after Toms determination to get to the top.
Opening sequence outline/summary	The opening sequence starts with Tom putting on his Street rapping clothes but hiding his geeky identity so people don’t know about his image and think he is a normal stylish guy. However when he is walking the shot shows his pale face with glasses so the viewers know he is a nerd. While he is walking there is rap/hip-hop music playing in the background. At the end of the opening scene while he is walking in an industrialised building area he looks through a window and sees Sam singing in a recording studio and sees himself in the future.  While he is looking through the window watching Sam sing he shuts his eyes and imagines himself collaborating  with Sam but when he opens his eyes again his daydreaming goes and Sam walks out the studio to leave Tom standing there by himself outside alone and struggling to find when his chance will come.
Genre	Teen Drama

Characters, Locations and Props

Actors:

Person	Role	On Screen Name
Tom Speechley	Acting as the main character, as he progresses to a rap star.	Tom Benson (Real name) Rap  name/nick name: Mr B.
Sam Guy	The main characters role model Professional rap star, already famous	Sam Carter Rap name/nick name: Sam Sparkz
Sol Ilett	Acting as the record producer for Sam Sparkz	Calvin Banks
Extras: Adam Pickup Liam Tilley Kiel Omesher Find others if needed	The characters will be used throughout the opening scene often walking by the main characters, also acting as the audience when main characters are performing on stage.	Names will not be relevant as they may have little or no speaking parts in the opening scene

Locations:

Location	Purpose
Recording Studio (Ken Stimpson)	We will use this location for the professional rap star, recording a new song. We will ensure the shots make the location not look like its within a school.
Tom Speechley’s house	Use as the first shot, as the character wakes up. We will use the bedroom, toilet and front door, as part of the opening scene.
Streets/Alley way	We will use Tom’s street and an alley way close by to record shots of the character walking, while listening to music and rapping out loud.

We are using Tom’s normal house as his on screen house as he is just a regular person in the film when we start so if we use his normal house, his regular status will come across. Were using the streets and alley ways to portray the tough struggle it is to get where he wants to be by walking through rough areas. We are using the studio to as it is very professional looking and when Sam will be in it, it will show Sam’s high status compared to Tom’s non-existent status on the outside of it.

Costumes:

Character	Costume
Tom Benson	Trousers: Nike Tracksuit bottoms, Grey Top: Zoo York, Black T-Shirt Shoes: Nike High tops Accs: New Era Cap, Scull handy Head Phones
Sam Carter	Trousers: Topman Carrot Bottom Skinny Chinos (Dark Green) Top: Topman character top/plain black hoody jacket Shoes: Adidas High Tops Accs: Wooly Hat, Blue, Studio headphones
Calvin Banks	Trousers: Topman Carrot Bottom Skinny Chinos (Dark Grey) Top: White T-shirt, Topman chequered shirt Shoes: Vans Authentic (Grey) Accs: Studio Headphones

We used this costume for Tom as the clothes he will be wearing with his accessories are the most stereotypical rap star clothes around what people can wear. He wears all the expected clothes as he is trying to make it so he does everything by the book. Sam however, he wears these clothes and accessories as he has already made it so he can wear more of what he likes and get away with it. It is still that style but more laid back. Calvin is wearing really casual clothes as he is a record producer and usually they wear what they like on a day to day basis so it’s not too smart, just casual.

Props:

Props

Studio Equipment

Alarm Clock

Mirror/Tooth brush/ sink

Front Door

We are using the alarm clock as when it goes off to wake Tom up at the start is will be a good way to start out soundtrack up while Tom is getting ready and going out. As I have already explained the studio is used to show how professional and high status in the music industry Sam is. The rest of the props will not normally be noticed in the film as much as they are pretty standard things like getting ready in the morning and leaving your house to go out. However as they are normal things to do with our editing and recording we will highlight that to show what a normal guy Tom is.

Story board - Main exercise

Pre-production

We have now decided on a final idea for our main task. We are currently writing/drawing the storyboard and planning all the equipment we will need.

Sound theory

Diegetic sound 

---

Sound whose source is visible on the screen or whose source is implied to be present by the action of the film: 

• voices of characters 
• sounds made by objects in the story 
• music represented as coming from instruments in the story space ( = source music)

Diegetic sound is any sound presented as originated from source within the film's world 

Diegetic sound can be either on screen or off screen depending on whatever its source is within the frame or outside the frame. 

Another term for diegetic sound is actual sound  

---

Non-diegetic sound 

---

Sound whose source is neither visible on the screen nor has been implied to be present in the action: 

• narrator's commentary
• sound effects which is added for the dramatic effect
• mood music

Non-diegetic sound is represented as coming from a source outside story space. 

---

The distinction between diegetic or non-diegetic sound depends on our understanding of the conventions of film viewing and listening.  We know of that certain sounds are represented as coming from the story world, while others are represented as coming from outside the space of the story events.  A play with diegetic and non-diegetic conventions can be used to create ambiguity (horror), or to surprise the audience (comedy). 

Another term for non-diegetic sound is commentary sound.

Recreation of the opening scene to Juno

Juno - Practice editing and shooting

We have just finished editing our Juno piece. We have tried to copy some shots from the existing video, but have also added shots that we believe worked well.We are currently uploading the video to YouTube, and will link it to the blog tomorrow.

After doing this task, I believe me and the others in the group have increased our knowledge of shooting and the editing process to help produce a well prepared and a good quality final piece.

Main project ideas

After looking through our initial ideas, we have decided that we where looking for something more different rather than a horror film.We decided that "Kool Kids" didn't appeal to a broad enough audience.
 After viewing other comedy films we noticed that opening scenes didn't always have dialogue. We felt that all the initial ideas would be far too complicated and comedy films are basic but affective.
After a discussion, with feedback from the other groups, we have decided to use the below idea:

Our new idea which we are yet to name, is set in a city at sunset. A teenage boy is running away from a very angry man indicating he has done something wrong. Whilst running away, the teenager encounters unfortunate comedic events like stepping in dog mess, tripping over bins and other various incidents. We will use many different types of camera angles and shots throughout this scene. The penultimate shot shows the teenager, after finding a passing garden to hide in, not knowing where the angry character is. The final shot shows the teenager relax, after he has found a place to hide, sitting against the garden wall breathing deeply. Then his phone rings which blows his cover as the angry man hears it and knows where he is. That is where the scene will end. The titles will be showing during the running footage.
Overall, we believe this type of comedy will appeal to a wider audiece, and this will help us achieve the best video possible.

Analysis of Lighting - Sin City

Throughout the film low light is used to create a dark atmosphere. The film is shot in black and white but certain features on characters and objects are emphasised using editing techniques, as a bright colour. The film shows good examples of different lighting methods:

Keylight - as the name suggests, is usually the brightest and the most influential. 



Backlight - helps counteract the affect of the keylight, thus making the character/object look more rounded.

Filler light - helps to soften the harshh shadows that the use of key lights create. These may be more than one filler light. 

Underlighting - is when the main source of lighting comes from below the subject. This tends to have distorting affects on the character/object that is being lit, and is often used in forror films.  

Top lighting - is when the mian source of lighting comes from above, highlighting the features of a characters - it can be used to create a glamorous look in a star.

Back lighting - is when the light source is behind the subject, if little or no other lighting, silhoettes are created.

Initial Ideas

Today we presented three initial ideas for our final piece. We then received feedback from the rest of our class. Below are the three ideas we wanted to produce a opening scene for:


Kool Kids
Genre: Comedy/Action

Location: Hunstanton

Storyline:

• 5 Characters skive school and head over to one of the characters house

• After drinking a bit, they decide to drive to Hunstanton

• Without realising, one of the characters goes missing while in Hunstanton

• The film will show the rest of the characters search for missing person and what happens during the search

The End

Genre: Horror

Location: Woods

Storyline:

Haunted Woods at night, people camping, each character has a scene on their own in the forest.
They then end up disappearing, until the end of the film when the remaining character finds all of
them possessed.

The opening scene will be the characters arriving at the woods, telling each other stories that
they have heard about the woods. There are then small snap shots from the distance looking
like they are being watched.

Stanton

 Genre: Comedy/Mystery Horror

Location: Peterborough to Hunstanton

Storyline:

4 main characters, go on a day out to Hunstanton. Its planned to be a normal day out but

something goes wrong...

The opening scene is the 4 of them getting ready for the day, then shows them meeting up and
shows the car journey there. As they arrive in Hunstanton the sound of a printer fades in, then
the shot fades into a printing factory showing a headline being printed.

  4 PEOPLE GO MISSING IN SEASIDE TOWN

Then the shot fades out into a black background.

Movement Shots

Tracking shot- This is a simple back and forward camera movement. A doller or dolly and tracker are often used for this shot so that the camera shot is steady and smooth. Tracking in draws the audience to the character but tracking out often indicates that the scene is over.  

Side-ways tracking shot (crab shot) - Often used to follow the movement of a character or object so that the audience can keep up with the action on screen.

Tilt shot - The simple move of a camera upwards or downwards on a axis. An upwards shot is often used by directors to create a sense of height or power. Tilt shot can be used with a point of view shot to follow the characters view of action. 

Zoom shot - A zoom can be used as an alternative to a tracking shot if the user doesn't have the equipment to use a tracking shot. This creates a movement towards and into the character. When this shot is done well, it can replace a tracking shot.

Arc shot - When the camer is moved round a character or object in either a full or half of a circle. It enables the viwers to see the reaction and facial expression of the character/s. This shot often increases the intensity of the narative.

Crane shot - When the camera is attached to a crane enabling the director top create a virticle camera shot.

Panning shot - When a camera is attached to a tri-pod and moved left to right, or right to left. it is often used to follow a moving object or character in a frame. This shot is also often used with a point of view shot.

Camera Shots

Establishing Shot/Extreme Long Shot (ELS) -  This shot is to set the scene and show the audience where the character is.  This shot shows the whole figure and there surroundings.

Long Shot (LS) - This shot also shows alot of the scene behind the character, but the camera focuses more on the character rather than the surroundings. This shot sets the scene but also shows what the character is doing. This is also a full body shot.

Medium Long Shot (MLS) - This shot is closer than a long shot, and still shows the whole figure of the character. This shots does the same as a long shot but focusses more on the character. Often the surroundings are distorted or the shot does not show as much focus to the background scene.

Medium Shot (MS) - The camera shot shows the character from the waiste up. Its often used to show more than one character in a scene.

Medium Close Up (MCU) - This shot is usually used to show two characters talking. It is shot from the mid-chest  to the top of the head. This shot shows the audience alot more detail about the character.

Close Up (CU) - This shot shows head and shoulders. The shot is often very detailed to shot emotion and reactions. It is often used in films to build up tension.

Extreme Close Up (ECU) - This shot is used to show a characters emotions, feelings or reaction. It either shows just the face or part of the face.

Preliminary Exercise - Basic Story Board

Preliminary Exercise - Final Video

Preliminary Exercise

We started to record footage for our preliminary exercise on the 16/09/10. After editing the footage, we realised that we had no audio.
We decided to record new footage with audio,on the 17/09/10, and we are currently in the process of editing our final piece.
When we had completed our final video, we had a small problem when trying to render. After resolving the issue we have completed our final preliminary exercise video.
We have also created a storyboard for our preliminary exercise. We will be uploading the styoryboard after finalising our footage.

Prelimary Exercise

180 Degree Rule

The 180° rule is a basic guideline in film making that states that two characters in the same scene should always have the same left to right relationship to each other.

Prelimery Exercise

Shot/reverse shot

Shot reverse shot is a film technique where one character is shown looking at another character, and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character. Since the characters are shown facing in opposite directions, the viewer assumes that they are looking at each other.

Prelimery Exercise

Match on action

This is a the cut from one shot to another view that matches the action and pace of the first shot. This allows conitnuity, even if the shot has been filmed days apart. Also, if a character begins a action in one shot and completes it in another shot, a visual bridge is created to disguise the cut from one to shot to another.

Prelimery Exercise

Continuity

Continuity, also known as time scheme, is the consistency of people, plot, objects, places and events seen by the viewer over some period of time. Most productions have script supervisors to attempt to maintain continuity throughout a scene.