Wednesday 23rd March

Today in the lesson we began to edit our opening. We chose to do a few long clips and then gradually change to lots of short clips. The use of lots of long clips adds tension to the scene.

We also chose the music we are going to use. We looked for Eery music to fit the mood of the scene. We found a cover of "what I've done" by linkin park. Were not using the original as it is copy righted. We really liked this however we thought it might have been abit too happy and opted for a different song instead.

2nd February 2011

In the lesson on Friday 28th January we filmed some footage of a film opening. We did this so that we could practice using the Mac books before using them to make our final pieces. 

Its the opening of what's probably going to be an action film, although the story could change. In the beginning you saw a girl take a phone call, saying an address. You then see the girl kill someone.

We filmed this opening in class, it took about an hour and a half to plan and film. We used actors and crew members from our class. The opening should be about a minute long. 

In today's lesson we used the Mac books to edit the raw footage. So far it took longer to edit than film. This has shown us how long it would take to edit and film our final piece in scale to this.

Our actor - Olivia

The actress we are using is Olivia. We decided to use her as she's a good actress and fits the part well. Also as she would already be on set it would be easier to use her than relying on someone else. 


We have found a dress for her which is white, and has pleats across the front. This type of dress would have been worn in the era our film is going to be set in. She would be barefoot so we wouldn't need shoes or anything for her. 


We're going to keep the make up natural with foundation and a small amount of mascara. This is because they wouldn't have worn a lot of make up in this time. Her hair is going to be either down with a bow or in ponytails with bows. 

The orphanage - Opening scenes

The orphanage is a Spanish thriller we watched the opening of in class.  The film which was made in 2007. It was directed by Juan Antonio Bayona. I'm now going to analyse a few shots I thought was effective and why. 

The opening shot is of a girl who's playing games. You see the silhouette of her against a tree on a bright spring background. The backgrounds bright and creates a happy atmosphere although all may not be as it seems. This sets a false sense of security to the audience.

The scarecrow you see in the opening scene is important. You see it in the garden in the beginning however later on you see it on the child (like in the photo on the left). 

You see a close up of the phone in the opening sequence as it rings. You then see a close up of the adoption papers, that say "Laura" is being adopted. Weary music is playing creating an unnerving atmosphere. This tells the audience nothing good will come from what's happening. 

The woman who took the phone call then walks outside where the children are playing. The games the children are playing show their innocence. The children are playing "it". When Laura becomes "it" they use a cut shot. This is effective as its almost as if the games are over and she's it. 

I also liked the way the opening credits were displayed. They were written across old wallpaper and they then used a child's hand to rip the wallpaper and reveal another name on newer wallpaper. This hints at what is going to happen later in the film i.e. Laura returns back to the orphanage when she's older and re-opens it. Although it hints at whats going to happen later in the film it doesn't give it all away which is good.

Our film location

These are a few shots of the location where we are going to film.  We are going to film in and around the church in Yarnton. 


The location is perfect for our film. We think this because outside the church you have all kinds of old graves and outside the church it looks very old fashioned. There are stone walls and wooden gates.


Lighting
There aren't many street lights down this road. We liked this about the location as street lights give an artificial light that looks orangey on camera. We would either film at dusk or dawn meaning it would be darkish but not too dark. This means we could use daylight and subtle lighting e.g. torches.



I shot these photo's during the day. This was a bad idea as we would be filming during at dusk or dawn so the lighting would be different. 


We chose Yarnton to film as it's local to everyone and everyone would be able to get there. Th is means people should be able to get to every filming. 

Sunday 30th January 2011 - Meeting 6

Today we met on location. We planned on filming a small part of the opening sequence but it was too cold and the lighting was wrong so we decided to plan. As this was the first time the other girls had seen the location we took sometime looking around the church and saying what we think would be good. We used our cameras to take some photos and speak camera angles. 


As it got dark fast, we would maybe plan on filming in the morning next time. This is because, if we we set off early in the morning whilst it was still dark while were filming inside the church by the time we had set all the equipment up it would be light enough. We like the idea of filming inside the church so we're going to alter our storyline very slightly. 


Although we didn't film anything today we're more organised for next time we go to film. Now the girls know what the church looks like we can draw up a story board as a group and plan shots. We are going to meet again soon and carry on filming.

Cars

Cars was made in 2006 by Disney and Pixar animations. It was directed by John Lasseter and Joe Ranft. The film is about a world which population is made up of only cars and other vehicles. It stars the famous voices of Owen Wilson, Paul Newman, Bonnie Hunt and even Jeremy Clarkson. Other Disney-Pixar films are Monsters Inc, The incredibles, Finding Nemo, Toy story and Shark tale.



The film was made by 300 artists, animators and technicians. Before they even began thinking of making the animation they drew up several storyboards. This meant they knew exactly what needed to be done and saved time. The 2nd full film story board they drew up was basic black and white sketches that when placed all together ran very smoothly. These were easier and faster than making the animation and allowed Pixar to remove any scenes they didn't want or make any changes needed before the final animation. 



My favourite part of the Cars film is the characters. The cars in the film are just characters that you love. John Lasseter said that for some cars he found the car first, then created the personality, where as other cars he thought of the personality first then thought which car it should be. For some cars they used specific models and others they made the car themselves and designed it. In one scene they even call a petrol station  a diner. I like all the thought and effort they put into each aspect of the film. They didn't leave anything out.