My Opening Two Minute Film : First Day of Shooting...

Saturday 28th January 2012

Today was my first day of shooting, I had planned to shot some of my home-videos clips today - I hoped to successfully get the home-videos of the boys playing football, playing a board game and the birthday cake scene, however after reviewing my shots in a production lesson on the Monday, I decided that the board game and birthday cake scene would be stronger and more "homely" with the use of artificial lighting, therefore I am going to film at night time on Thursday this week (so I can edit on Fridays production lesson) using lamps and fairy lights to create my family videos. This is however a diary of my first day of shooting:

Props, Actors and Equipment used:

+ Football

+ Baseball

+ Small Ball

+ Cake

+ Cake Stand

+ Cleudo Boardgane

+ Tin of Chocolates

+ Camera
+ Tri-Pod
+ Script (copy for me and actors)
+ Storyboard (copy for me)
+ Actors = Jacob (playing Sam) and Reuben (playing Jack)

09:00am:

An early start to kick of my weekend as I had the mission of making a cake for the birthday cake scene before my actors arrived at 12:30. Yes it did take me two hours to do, however I personally think that my first every Victoria sandwich cake was a great success (and it tasted very very yummy)

12:00am:

Cake is all made, so time to get the sets ready. Firstly I put my cake on a cake stand, got out some plates and a knife in order to create the scene fit for a young boys birthday! I then got the board game set up and placed it on the side ready to put on the table after I had filmed the cake scene. It was then time to hunt out some bats and balls (which was more tricky then I thought it would be) - I found a baseball bat and ball in my brothers room and then a very old football in the shed (bringing back my own childhood memories) - which I set up all ready to use in my back garden.

12:30am:

All set up and ready, now just time to wait for my actors!

12:45am:

still waiting...

01:00pm:



Anyone feel like a kick about?

Finally my actors arrived (better a bit late then never I say). I started of by filming the cake scene, as this scene I also needed others to help sing happy birthday (this is where dads come in very handy), I then moved on a filmed the board game scene, for both of these scenes I firstly did not think the lighting was that great and also I thought it looked a bit to staged and not very natural, therefore decided I would review my footage in my Mondays production lesson but if needed I would re-film on Thursday night. I then went outside and filmed my clips of the boys playing football/baseball, I took lots of footage as I wanted to have a lot to experiment with when it came to editing, allowing me to cut it down to the most effective parts. This part of the filming I thought went the best, I think this was mostly due to the fact the boys were able to act more natural as they were used to being filmed by then, and also it was more natural for them to be playing a game of football together on a Saturday afternoon!

My Opening Two Minute Film : The Final Script...

As my ideas have procressed and developed, my shot sequence has changed quite alot therefore I have developed a new and improved script, this I plan to give out to my actors a few days before filming in order for the day of the shot to run as smooth and quick as possible!

The final script

EXT. GARDEN. DAY. FLASHBACK

Home video of YOUNG SAM TAYLOR aged ten years and YOUNG JACK TAYLOR aged eight years. Both dressed in denim jeans, waterproof jackets, trainers, wrapped up in a scarf, hat and gloves. SAM and JACK are both playing a game of football together, demonstrating to the audience that both boys experience a continent childhood. 

MOTHER (O.S)

(soft, motherly tone of voice)

What makes us who we are today?

INT. POLICE STATION. EXTREME CLOSE UP SHOTS. DAY

Extreme close up shots, of detective (who unknown the audience in this shot is SAM TAYLOR), wearing a suit and crisp white shirt, extreme shots are used to show him placing an expensive watch on and then tidying his black tie. No faces are shown during this shot, only extreme close up shots of particular objects.

 MOTHER (O.S)

(soft, motherly tone of voice)

What determines what we become later in life?

INT. LIVING ROOM. EVENING. FLASHBACK

Home video of YOUNG SAM TAYLOR aged ten years and YOUNG JACK TAYLOR aged eight years. Both dressed in comfy home clothes. SAM and JACK are both playing a boardgame of cludo together, demonstrating to the audience that both boys experience a continent childhood. 

MOTHER (V.O)

(soft, motherly tone of voice)

The choices we make...

 INT. POLICE STATION. EXTREME CLOSE UP SHOTS. DAY

Extreme close up shots, shows the finger prints being taken of the criminal (who unknown to the audience in this shot is JACK TAYLOR)

MOTHER (V.O)

(soft, motherly tone of voice)

The paths we walk...

INT. LIVING ROOM. EVENING. FLASHBACK

Home video of YOUNG SAM TAYLOR aged ten years and YOUNG JACK TAYLOR aged eight years. Both dressed in comfy home clothes. SAM and JACK are both sat on sofa, mother brings in birthday cake on cake stand, demonstrating to the audience that both boys experience a continent childhood. 

 MOTHER (V.O)

(soft, motherly tone of voice)

Is it due to our nature or is it down to our nurture?

 INT. POLICE STATION INTERVIEW ROOM. DAY  

JACK TAYLOR is slumped on the chair, his head bowed, his shoulders hunched. The camera stays stationary as SAM TAYLOR comes into focus walking slowly over to the empty chair, his shoes creating a slight click, breaking the atmosphere. His fingers press down on the tape recorder, his face empty of emotion.

 SAM TAYLOR

(monotone voice)

For the benefit of the tape interview commencing of Jack Taylor commencing at fourteen hundred hours, present is chief inspector Sam Taylor

JACK TAYLOR lifts his head.

THE END

My Opening Two Minute Film : Developing My Shot List...

Throughout the development of my opening, I have had to overcome a few issues that I had not thought about firstly I had not really concentrated on my music for my opening as I had been developing my dialogue however re-thinking I defently think that I need music in order to allow the audience to establish vocally that it is an opening. I am have therefore decided that I shall have music as a low background noise throughout the whole opening, with my dialogue playing over the top of this non-digentic sound. I have also developed my home-videos, to make them a bit intresting I am doing a different activity for each small clip, I am also going to progress the audiences knowledge of the childrens up bringing throughout these videos. I have also added a the scene which consists of a pan shot of photographs to establish the feeling that this film is all revolved around family and upbringing as well as crime and thriller.

Scene one:

+ Footage = Production Idents (a starlight pictures presents and a seaside production)

+ Music = Seashore sound track
Transition = Cross-disolve

Scene Two:

+ Footage = Photographs of family photos, including a picture of the two boys playing football

+ Music = Autumn Prelude by Zero-project
+ Props = Family photographs

+ Camera Shot = Handheld pan shot of the photographs

Scene Three:
+ Footage = Homevideos of the two boys playing football
+ Music = Autumn Prelude by Zero-project
+ Diaglogue = "What makes us who we are today?" - mother voiceover
+ Characters = Sam Taylor and Jack Taylor
+ Props = Football
+ Camera shot = Handheld

Scene Four:

+ Footage = Extreme close up shots of the detective neatening his tie and doing his watch

+ Music = Autumn Prelude by Zero-project

+ Dialogue = "What determines what we become later in life" - mother voiceover

+ Characters = Sam Taylor

+ Title Sequence = Rich Straughan and Francis Leng

+ Props = Tie and watch

+ Camera Shot = Extreme close up

Scene Five:

+ Footage = Homevideos of the two boys playing a board game
+ Music = Autumn Prelude by Zero-project
+ Diaglogue = "The choices we make...?" - mother voiceover
+ Characters = Sam Taylor and Jack Taylor
+ Props = a board game (cludo), coffee table
+ Camera Shot = Handheld

Scene Six:

+ Footage = Extreme close up shots of criminal giving finger prints, taking off watch
+ Music = Autumn Prelude by Zero-project
+ Diaglogue = "The paths we walk...?" - mother voiceover
+ Characters = Jack Taylor
+ Props = Handcuffs, stamping ink, watch
+ Camera shot = Extreme close up
Scene Seven:
+ Footage = Homevideos of mother bringing in birthday cake
+ Music = Autumn Prelude by Zero-project
+ Diaglogue = "Is it due to our nature or is it down to our nurtue?" - mother voiceover
+ Characters = Sam Taylor and Jack Taylor
+ Props = Birthday cake, candles, cake stand
+ Camera Shot = Handheld
Scene Eight:
+ Footage = The interview room, detective walk through the door  with coffee and papers, sits down and strats the interview tape
+ Music = Autumn Prelude by Zero-project
+ Diaglogue = "For the benefit of the tape interview of Jack Taylor commencing at fourteen hundred hours, present is detective inspector Sam Taylor?" - Sam Taylor digentic speech
+ Characters = Sam Taylor and Jack Taylor
+ Props = Papers, tape recorder, coffee, four chairs, table
Scene Nine:
+ Footage = Main Title (Genetics)

My Opening Two Minute Film : My Actors and Actresses...

I have decided to construct some mini fact files for the actors/actresses which I have used throughout my film:

Real Name = Jacob
Real Age = 12 years old
Characters Name = (Younger) Sam Taylor
Characters Age = 11 years old
Why Chosen = I chose Jacob as firstly I needed two brothers for my home-video's but also he demonstrated a more mature personality, he demonstrated a character that would follow the right path in the future

Real Name = Reuben
Real Age = 10 years old
Characters Name = (Younger) Jack Taylor
Character Age = 8 years old
Why Chosen =  I chose Reuben because again he was a the younger brother, both him and Jacob look very genetically similar. I also chose him as he had a more mischeivness personality, he tested the boundaries and enjoyed receiving attention either good or bad.

Real Name = Francis
Real Age = 21 years old
Charatcer Name = (Older) Jack Taylor
Charatcer Age = 25 years old
Why Chosen = I chosen to use Francis because firstly he is physically smaller therefore will perceive a less dominant character than Rich (who was playing Sam). Also he was able to portray well a character who demonstrated a through their body language a closed off personality, deomonstrating the withdrawn charatcer I wanted to percive that the mischievness, confident young boy had turned into.

Real Name = Rich
Real Age = 22 years old
Character Name = (Older) Same Taylor
Character Age = 28 years old
Why Chosen = I have decided to use Rich firstly because of he is physically more taller therefore perceiving more dominant, powerful character. He similar to how Jacob demonstrated a mature nature, demonstrates a similar nature but also he was able to perceive for me a sense of over-confidence providing the audience a role reversal the mischievousness boy has become withdrawn and the shy, timid boy has become confident and powerful.

My Opening Two Minute Film : A Change in the Title...

To begin with I had the idea of naming my film 'Identity' as I thought it suited the film, as the film is all about how a person develops their identity, whether our future in affected by our upbringing or whether our identity is inherited from birth. However once researching I found that a film was already names 'Idenitity' (it must of been a good name choice!). The film 'Idenitiy' was drama mystery that was released in 2003, it was directed by James Mangold - I'm rather interested in watching it actually however this was not going to help me develop a film title for my own piece. I therefore got my thinking cap back on and decided on the name 'Genetics'.

This is the definition which I found of the term 'Genetics':
ge·net·ics
n.

1. (used with a sing. verb) The branch of biology that deals with heredity, especially the mechanisms of hereditary transmission and the variation of inherited characteristics among similar or related organisms.

2. (used with a pl. verb) The genetic constitution of an individual, group, or class.

I therefore think it shall be a good title for my film, as the whole of the film is all surrounding the fact of whether their live was decided by their inherited characteristics or whether it was due to the upbringing and situations they have faced that had determined their choices in life.

My Opening Two Minute Film : The Props List...

For my home video there is a few props that I shall need:
+ A birthday cake (yes this shall be homemade by me so I cannot promise it shall be perfect!)
+ Outdoor toys to play with - football, cricket ball and bat ect.
+ Kitchen table/chairs
For my interview scene there is also a few separate props that I shall need:
+ Hand cuffs
+ Detectives badge
+ Tape recorder
+ Table/chairs
What I shall need to actually film:
+ Camera
+ Tri-pod
+ Storyboard
+ Copy's of script (both one for me and for actors)

My Opening Two Minute Film : A Change of Actors...

Well my aim to be a little bit different by using actors from a drama company and using a real police interview room has just a little bit back fired on me - well a lot back fired and I have had to get my thinking cap on and have a change of ideas. These were the emails that I received :

Dear Alice,

               Thank you for your request. I apologise for my late reply. I have asked my supervisors whether it would be possible for you to use our Police Interview room.

Unfortunately this will not be possible due to Data Protection and Security reasons. This will apply for any Police Station.

 I do wish you good luck for your film project and your studies.

Kind regards,

Virginie

Dear Alice,

                 I'm the Deputy Director of the Theatre Royal Arts Course and have been handed an email you sent to the Garage asking about actors for your film. First of all I'd like to apologise for the delay in replying to you; our Director is away and I only received your email a couple of days ago. All our actors are committed to shows at the current time until April, so we are unable to assist on this occasion, however if we can help in the future please don't hesitate to contact us again.

I wish you success with your project.

Best wishes,

Jo Reil

However these emails are not all doom and gloom, the email from the theatre royal was positive in the fact that when doing my year 13 five minute short film I may be lucky to be able to use some of their actors/actresses as long as they are not too busy - always look for the positive from a negative I say! This shall not however help with my year 12 opening so, I have decided to use two brothers, who are family friends for my home videos they are aged 12 and 10, so will be perfect for my home videos, and as I was already using my home as the setting for my home video's that part I have sorted and I am filming it on Saturday 28th January 2012. The more tricky part was the adult actors and location for my interview, so I have contacted my brother who is in his third year at university but has studied media for A levels so has an insight into creating a film, I am hoping to go up and stay with him for a few days during February half term to use some of his friends as my adult characters and use a room for my interview shots near him. The downside is that I shall have to hand in my rough cut after half term - however I have overcome some big problems, and found good solutions, which is what media is all about. I have gained good experience at contacting different agencies and locations, and it is all good pratice for when I have to do it all again in year 13!

My Opening Two Minute Film : Filming and Editing Timetable...

I decided to create a table in edexcel (time to put my gcse ICT skills to use), where I have recorded both my filming and editing dates, in order to make sure I allow enough time to edit and off course film. This therefore will mean that when I come to year 13 and creating my 5 minute short film I will be able to see from my year 12 filming the length of time I needed to created my two minute opening, and how long I should plan to leave to create my film - as that's what media is all about doing a task and then learning from it for the future!

Date	Planned Filming Work
Friday 13th January	Check emails - see if the garage has emailed back
	Send letter to 'The Bethel' for location
Saturday 14th January
Sunday 15th January
Monday 16th January	(Double Production lesson)
Tuesday 17th January
Wednesday 18th January
Thursday 19th January
Friday 20th January	(Double production lesson)
Saturday 21st January	(Either using actors from garage or my family friends sons)
	Film home video sequences
Sunday 22nd January	Record mothers voice over
Monday 23rd January
Tuesday 24th January
Wednesday 25th January	(Production lesson) - Editing lesson
	Editing = home videos
Thursday 26th January
Friday  27th January	(Double production lesson) - Editiing lesson
	Editing = home videos
Saturday 28th January	(Either at chosen police station, the bethel or alternative location)
	Film police interview scene
	Film extreme close up of watch and tie (detective)
	Film extreme close up of fingerprints (criminal)
Sunday 29th January
Monday 30th Febuary
Tuesday 31st January
Wednesday 1st Febuary
Thursday 2nd Febuary
Friday 3rd Febuary	(Double production lesson) - Editing lesson
	Editing = interview scene
	Editing = extremem close up scenes
Saturday 4th Febuary	FREE INCASE NEED TO DO ANYMORE EXTRA FILMING
Sunday 5th Febuary
Monday 6th Febuary	(Double production lesson) - Editing lesson
	Export single shots along with ident into premier, and putting sequence together
Tuesday 7th Febuary
Wednesday 8th Febuary	(Production lesson) - Editing lesson
	Adding title and title sequences
Thursday 9th Febuary
Friday 10th Febuary	(Double production lesson) - Deadling rough cut
	If needed finishing of title sequences
	Exporting work

My Opening Two Minute Film : Exploring Locations...

I feel a bit of a tourist today - it is the media version of sight seeing. So armed with the camera, I have been taking snapshots of all the possible locations for my opening. So my first trip was to venture out to the unknown of my back garden, I am thinking of using my house for the setting for my home videos (what is more family than an actual family home I ask myself). I also chose this location as it is easiest for my two actors who I am using for my opening as they are family friends, so they can get to it easily meaning less time is used travelling and more time for filming!

The kitchen table in my house (possible location for cake scene)

The front living room in my house (possible location for board game scene)

View of the family garden attached to my house (possible location for football scene)

I have also researched a few of potential ideas for my interview scenes. One is Attleborough police station, one Wymondham police station and one 'The Bethel' centre in Norwich. I chose these three settings, as an interview at a real life police station would be ideal and these two are closest for me. I chose 'The Bethel' as I know it is used for one to one sessions therefore has a range of different
individual rooms which could be potentially used as a police interview setting.

Wymondham police station (possible location for interview scene)

I also understand that it may not possible to use these locations due to security and protection reasons therefore my camera and I have also explored other ideas such as using the conference room at my school, or using the plain living room (best thing about student houses all rooms are white and lack personality perfect for an interview scene) at my brothers student house.

My Opening Two Minute Film : Enquring about different Settings and Characters...

When we did our recreation of 'The Hangover', I emailed Park Farm Hotel enquiring about using one of their hotel rooms for our location (and they were lovley enough to let us - this was one location which defently was not an issue at spending an afternoon at in a posh hotel room!). I personally think it added another element of professionalism to our recreation and therefore was quite keen to enquire about using a real life setting for my final production. Therefore I emailed Attleborough and Wymondham Police Station to use one of their inerview rooms as my location for the interview scenes. I have also written to 'The Bethel', a child mental health centre as I thought they may have a room which they use for therapy which I could possibly use, this is the letter which I sent to "The Bethel":

Dear Sir/Madam,

                              I am an A-level student studying at Wymondham High School doing Media Studies. I am participating in the task of creating my own two minute opening of a film. Therefore I am inquiring about the use of one of your rooms for my two minutes opening, as my idea involves a character playing a detective and a character playing a criminal, so involves a scene where the criminal is interviewed. I am interested in using a room that has a window looking into to it, therefore thought I would enquire about whether you have any rooms which I could possibly use.

I know it may not be possible to have the exact match but was not sure whether you have any rooms to offer which are similar or I could create this look on camera.

The shots I am planning to use the room for are:

·         a camera shot looking into the room (preferably through a window)

·         a character walking into the interview room

·         two characters sitting down for the actual interview in the room

My contact details are:

Email – aliceleng@hotmail.co.uk (I check my emails a few times each day so is the best way to contact me)

Mobile – 07743936898

Thank you for your time taken to read this email

Yours Sincerely

Alice Leng

I also decided to enquire about the use of actors from a drama company. 'The Garage' is a local drama company situated in Norwich so I also emailed them asking about the posibility of using some of their students in my film. This is the email that I sent to 'The Garage':

Dear Sir/Madam,

                              I am an A-level student studying at Wymondham High School doing Media Studies. I am participating in the task of creating my own two minute opening of a film. Therefore I am inquiring about whether it would be possible to use a few of your actors to feature in my two minutes opening. I shall be doing the filming over the next 4 weeks in order to allow for editing time, I am fairly flexible with my times, and can film over weekends and a few weekdays so which ever date is easiest for the actors.

The Basic summary of my two minutes opening is ‘a documentary style thriller that focuses on family and the paths of two brothers (Jack and Sam Taylor). Both sharing a happy childhood, to growing up on the opposite sides of the coin: one breaks the law, one enforces it. Through flashbacks and interviews, it explores the issue of nature vs. nurture whilst playing out an old fashioned detective thriller between the greatest of adversaries’.

For my two minutes opening it involves two main characters (Jack Taylor and Sam Taylor) at two different time periods in there life. During the home video clips the boys are around 10 and 8 years old, so I am looking for two male actors to play these characters. I am then also filming in the present time of the boys lives where the characters are around 27 and 25 years old so am looking for a further two male actors to play the men at this age range. The actors do not have to be the exact ages, they can be both younger than the character they are playing or older. My aim is to demonstrate to the audience the characters at childhood and the characters at adult hood; therefore the exact age is not the main focus.

I enclose an attachment of the script that I have written for my opening to allow you to see my idea for the whole of my opening. If there is anyone who is willing to help me out my email address is:

·         aliceleng@hotmail.co.uk

I check my emails a few times each day so is the best contact option for me however my mobile number is also:

·         07743936898

Thank you for your time taken to read this email, I know that it is very short notice and that you are a busy company but I shall be very grateful for all the help I can get.

Yours Sincerely

Alice Leng

                             

My Opening Two Minute Film : Audience Research...

After having explored what a target audience is, and how to define a target audience, I went into the big wide world (Yes I interviewed people not just in wymondham high sixth form!) to find out who would be attracted to my film, why it would attract them and if they had an ideas of improving it (I may have to steal a few of these ideas!).  I decided to create a film (seeing as I am studying media studies!) to document the answers, however rather then a straight question-answer film, I created my own signs asking the questions as I thought this was a bit unique but also stayed within the £0.00 budget!

So what did I take from my audience research is the big question, well firstly I deliberately chose a range of ages, different genders and occupational backgrounds to find out what different characters would be attracted to watch a film. One of the participants was a mother/teacher in her mid 50's - not the typical target audience for my film genre, however my research showed that actually my film idea really attracted her as she enjoyed finding out about human development, and found the psychological part of my film fascinating. I also asked a more fitting character for my genre, a 20 year old male student who is studying psychology at degree level, not only does the psychological part interest him but also the added element of a crime/thriller. I also found from my research that what attracts people to see a film is not only the genre, but also the reviews given and the actors/actresses that are staring in the film. I have therefore decided to contact a local drama company in Norwich to see whether they wold have any actors which I could use during my opening, to express how I have taken on board my research.