LATELY WE HAVE HAD ISSUES WITH FILMING. We came back to school on the monday after shooting and realised that a lot of what we'd filmed needed to be reshot. And after not having any free time, due to me working and hurricane Barney, it has just been delayed and delayed and delayed.
BUT….How many weeks later… we have decided to reshoot everything this saturday. With our Figure (Megan's brother) at the shoot. Although I am working, we have planned to just do it. (YAY FUN FOR ME) A 3 HR SHOOT AND THEN 9 HOURS WORKING!
The sunrise is at almost 8 whilst is cutting it short for me because I have to be at work at 8;45, so hopefully we get it done in time.
Figuring out the ending for the Film opening seems to be the trickiest part of it. As a way of trying to figure out what the female protagonist would do we decided to survey sue people on what they would do if they were put into the situation. These are the results... Scream - 3 Swear - 6 Silence - 9
Today, we all woke up at 5am to get to the location (Megan's House) by 6:30. We got the majority of the filming done, which is excellent, but due to us forgetting the Mask(An important prop) we had to leave out filming the scenes with the figure until maybe next week, where we can get everything filmed. Here are some of the behind the scenes photos (Megan and JB both toke several of their own):
We were also really lucky to have Jimmy cooperate with the the majority of the time, which saved us time (Lot's of treats were digested by someone).
You'll be able to connect the different behind the scenes photos with the scenes in the film opening, when we've finished the whole process.
Due to Megan's house being decorated, her house looks very stripped back and quite scary, which makes the ideal setting for our mysterious/scary film opening.
We Also did a bit of filming behind the scenes (though not much):
Last of all, I love this two shot! It'll be one of the final shots before the whole opening fades to black.
These are photos of our Location, in which we'll be shooting out film opening:
Although the garden is small, we want it to be small enough so that the audience will be able to see the figure in the background of our window shot. The layout of the window and garden is perfect for what we imagined in our heads.
THE FIGURE:
As we planned to film at Megan's house, her brother, Billy was the easiest option to use as our Figure, especially since he is rather tall and completes the profile of the character we want for our film opening.
This it
THE FEMALE:
We considered many options for this role. We took our time deciding who we wanted to play as this character, because she will be the main protagonist for our film opening. As a group decision with help from our teacher, we understood that going for a willing female would not be the best option as they may want to change it. Therefore we decided I would, not willingly mind, play this role as I look the most innocent.
From having our first ideas, we've come to a conclusion with what we are doing as our film opening. We've gathered inspiration from Luther especially, as it's similar to what we want to do for our film opening, they play tricks with everyone's most common fears.
Clips such as this one, will especially be inspiring as we start to film our opening:
In this shot in particular I like the fact the women knows something is wrong, She knows something is up in her house, which in a way unsettles the audience. The fact that the clips drags on builds the suspense and also Creates a sort of unease in the audience. The silence and diegetic sound makes the audience feel on edge and in a way makes us scared. We feel that when our female and our figure meet face to face and the build up to that event, non diegetic sound should be played over and getting louder as we get to the actual meeting.
This shot is a POV shot, and really makes it clear to the audience that this woman is not alone! the duration of this clip is very long, which suggests the person whose POV this is is waiting for a particular moment. The use of POV shots in our film will let the audience know that is is no ordinary day. this will also lead up to the event of the meeting, which should build the tension.
This shot, which is the last scene of the clip, there is a crescendo leading up to the event and really frightens the audience, and also contradicts so harshly with the silence of the rest of the clip.
Here, we have story boarded our final ideas for our film opening. We even hope to start filming this weekend (We were supposed to do it this weekend, but due to illness down of us were up to getting up at like 5am)
We also have several props to get before our first filming session, like several of the same mug, incase one of the breaking the mug shots doesn't work out. We also need to configure what each character will wear and etc.
we filmed several Gogglebox clips, which we then edited and this is the end result. I'm quite pleased with the result of the Skins clip, but the other two were just me playing about witt he types of things on iMovie. It's given me plenty of ideas for our actual editing for our film opening and has helped me develop my skills using iMovie.
Skins:
Lost:
River:
I think the main problem we had was the filming of the initial clip, which meant that everything after that wasn't good.I've learnt that every process of the creating of something, including the editing, filming, actors etc.They're all critical to the final product.
We are all aware of the technological advances when it comes to how we view our favourite TV dramas and Films. The Media Industry has gone through rapid change throughout the last few years, where streaming services such at Netflix and Amazon Prime have flushed DVD's, cinema and television right down the drain. To be honest they're aren't many of us (Except the oldies who can't seem to grasp modern technology) who still watch television live, because of the services that are now available to the public, whether it be Netflix and Amazon prime, or on demand or illegal downloading, how we view TV and film has changed! and massively!
Maybe the thought of viewing whatever you want 24 hours a day and from an array of different devices is just too irresistible. We no longer watch TV on just a plain television because there are tablets, Phones, computers etc. available to us where we can access films and media. Netflix began as a website where people could rent DVD's online and get them posted through the mail. It has very much evolved from that and now with a whole host of new On - demand shows, it gives consumers superior access to the latest TV series and movies and all within the comfort of their own homes! Netflix has also become a leeway for Showrunners and Scriptwriters because it offers up- front contracts, resulting in some of the best new TV shows such as "Orange Is The New Black' and 'House of Cards'. Netflix also started uploading entire seasons all in one go, which invented the new sensation of 'Binge- Watching', in contrast to the more traditional once- a- week programming model.
Streaming a movie through Netflix is far more convenient than spending a night at the cinema whilst also spending a fortune. Viewers can now even create a cinema- like atmosphere within their own homes with the addition of high definition and surround sound. Cinema Companies realise that consumers can create this environment at home without even needing to step foot outside of their homes except to spend millions on the latest equipment and technology. To fight the competition with streaming companies, cinemas have sent billions on updated projectors and are even experimenting with lesser- known films that aren't available through Netflix.
Although the Media Industry is changing, it always has! And probably always will! But it can only get better, right?
I asked 20 people the following questions:
What is your gender?
How old are you?
What is your favourite genre of movie?
From that genre, what is your favourite movie? and why? How do you feel about the use of flash forward in the opening scene of a movie?
Who's your favourite actor?
Favourite Movie of theirs?
What age certificate do you usually watch?
Do the actors in the movie influence whether you watch them or not?
What's your opinion on thrillers?
Do the first ten minutes of a movie matter to you?
How do you feel about female protagonists?
What genre of movie do you dislike?
Here are the results:
Four people were asked on Facebook, two on Whatsapp and 15 people were asked the questions via a recorded interview.
From the results, I found that the majority of the people I asked enjoyed the effect of the use of flash forward in the opening scene, therefore maybe it would be something we could include in our film opening. They thought it was effective. Other opinions were negative because some people felt it spoiled the film, especially if it is not a brilliantly made film. The problem with flash forward is that people may work out the mystery before they should. Except some people didn't understand what it was. I also found that the opening 10 minutes are crucial to whether or not people watch the film or not as 100% of the people I asked said yes, therefore our film opening, although it is only 2 minutes it still needs to be captivating. The majority of people didn't like Horror as a genre, therefore we know not to do horror and some even said they didn't like it when paired with thrillers, however over half of everyone I asked were positive about thrillers. Though extra comments from people said that sometimes they can be cliche and predictable and some said they keep you on the edge of your seat and are interesting. We have been heading in the direction of thrillers, therefore these results support us and give us the go ahead to continue to look into thrillers.
Although the majority of the people I asked were female and young, in the end the results gathered are varied. It is to be expected that teenage girls like rom coms and chick flicks. The named films I've gathered from everyones favourite genre are going to have to be research into what this particular target audience likes.
I made a mistake and forgot to ask the people who weren't asked via a recorded interview the question 'What age certificate do you normally watch?', But from the people I did ask, they all said from anything up to 15, although this could be because they weren't of the age of the next age certificate, which is 18.
These is the assessment criteria for AS media studies, which gives us some idea of what we are expected to do (Although we already know) and how to do it to a high standard. It also gives us some idea of what we have to do exactly within the guidelines and not fall too fall from the tracks.
The main Objective is: the titles and opening of a new fiction film, to last a maximum of two minutes.
More than 100 Feminist protesters jumped the barriers and blocked the red carpet at the Suffragette Premiere in London to protest Domestic violence. Activists from the campaigning group Sisters Uncut, who campaign against Domestic violence were seen being physically carried and pushed back over the barriers. They said they wanted to bring attention to the recent governmental cuts on Domestic violence services.
Seen through the purple and green smoke bombs, protesters lay out on the red carpet and delay the premiere by 15 minutes and are even seen carrying posters with 'DEAD WOMEN CAN'T VOTE' . As a society we don't see the problems faced by women as much, we see them as 'solved', However protesters from Sisters Uncut say 'The battle isn't over'. Its great how such as film could evoke this to sort of event to happen, it gives us some hope that after all society is malleable.
I love how the cast of the film, such as Helena Bonham carter and Carey Mulligan don't see the protest as anything bad, but actually the complete opposite as Helena Bonham Carter says, 'I’m glad our film has done something. That’s exactly what it’s there for,'. And Carey Mulligan says 'Hopefully this film will inspire everyone in the way they view the world. We are an unbalanced society – women and men – and films like this inspire conversations about how we can correct that imbalance.' The positive outlook of the cast makes the event more spectacular.
I think We, as women Owe it to ourselves and the Suffragettes to see this film. If you think about it enough, You could almost say it was ironic.
Our initial ideas start with a women in her home, who lets her dog out in the early morning, winter time and comes face to face with a man in a mask. I imagine having a wide shot of the two characters similar to this one from Moonrise Kingdom…
I like the effect of it being so symmetrical as we can see both characters looking at each other from a distance. It makes the meeting more shocking and arises a sort of unease in viewers. I imagine the duration of this shot quite long to build tension, especially as we see our film opening as a thriller.
I like the scene above, as there are two characters that meet for the first time in a long time, which is similar to what we want to happen in our opening. We see shot- reverse- shot as the characters converse, although in the opening of our film we feel there should be little or no dialogue to create suspense and mystery. But the flicking of the camera back and forth between the characters I imagine would unsettle the viewer and create tension. If the shots are drawn out too, viewers will want to know what happens next, although there will be no NEXT.
We imagine our film opening happening on a winter morning, where the light is bright but when it is misty, and where you see your breath fog out in a cloud in front of you. I imagine close ups on the woman's face and her breath disappearing into the garden, where the scene will take place. We imagine the scene being a sort of flash forward, where in the beginning viewers witness a scene further in the movie, so that they keep watching to find out where this scene fits into the movie as a whole..
Directed by Richard Glatzer and based on Lisa Genova's best selling book, Still Alice is the story of a successful women who is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's.
I never really thought much about Alzheimer's before watching this film, but it has opened my eyes to how honesty destroying it is. In the film Alice( Julianne Moore) says she wishes she had cancer. This was the point in the film that really made me pause it and think about what that would be like. To be losing yourself. Memories, in a sense make you who you are, but to lose them, means you're losing yourself. To forget who you're family are or to walk in a room and forget what you were looking for, these simple things we all take for granted and never think about. But to have that happen every time you walk into a room? Or to not recognise anyone you meet? The world must be so lonely. Even as I write this, I'm not really writing about the movie, but Alzheimer's itself and the way the movie it's changed my thought process on certain things,
I hate how I didn't think about Alzheimer's before, because now that I know more about it, it makes the world unfair. Although the movie is all fiction, I can't help but feel that real people all around the world are going through exactly what the film illustrates.
I think this photo (above) sums the film up in its entirety. Julianne Moore plays the character so well that it pulled at my heart strings on too many occasions. She makes it so believable that we expect her to have experienced what it's really like. The struggle is so evident on her face. She performs so well, we feel emotionally attached to the character and sympathise will her trauma. The bonds between the characters, especially Alice and her husband (Alec Baldwin) and Alice and her youngest daughter (Kristen Stewart) is enough to punch you quite literally in the tear ducts especially in the scene when Alice performs a speech at the Alzheimer's Association. This shot shows alice looking Into a tv screen. The picture we see is unclear and blurry and dark, this reflects how the disease takes over your life and basically grounds you up, so that you're only snippets of who you used to be. You're not who you used to be, but you're still you. She's still her. She's still Alice.
The emotional connection between myself and the main characters shows how exquisite the performances of the crew was. Julianne Moore successfully conveys the struggle, the isolation, confusion and anger of what going through Alzheimer's feels like.
The scene above where Alice gets lost while on her daily jog is unsettling to say the least, from this close up of Alice the camera is focused on her whilst the background is blurred, it's almost as if we, as the audience can feel the struggle she is going through and how everything including the environment around her is confusing.
I can hardly find the words to summarise and point out why and what I liked about Still Alice because all in all it was greatly touching and it really tugs at the heart strings. Somehow they make you understand what it is like to live with Alzheimer's without having known anyone with Alzheimer's. No one can dislike this movie. I'm sorry but how could you dislike it!? If I haven't persuaded you to watch it, here is the trailer:
