Friday, 16 December 2011
Thursday, 15 December 2011
Week Nine -Finito
Here are the pictures i took on my phone of my laptop screen showing our video uploaded onto Youtube. Adam did this last night. If you were wondering why i didn't just printscreen, it's because i didn't know how to save a printscreen as an image and it wouldn't upload any other way.
Adam also uploaded it to Facebook and posted it as both a status, and onto each of our walls in order to get some feedback on the video which i will document and upload onto the blog.
Week Nine -Voki -Christmas

Here is a voki just saying what my plan is over the Christmas holidays. Just in case my voki isn't clear as i was rushing due to the ridiculously short time limit on them, here is basically what i said.
-I will be answering the seven question using 7 different types of media.
-I will do it over 1 week, most likely one a day.
-I will save them all into drafts.
-I will publish them all in one go when i get back to school which with be on the 4th-ish.
Monday, 12 December 2011
Week Nine -Editing
I'm finding it increasingly hard to choose different coloured fonts to use in my blogs :(. I think i've used this one two or three times.
Okay, well in today's lesson, we continued with the editing and also went to a quiet room to record Fehinti's voiceover. Fehinti read from the script that i wrote for him and i think it sounded quite good. When we added his voiceover to the footage that we already had, we did not have enough footage of the interrogation room to cover the length of it. Instead, we decided to put it into slow motion which would have the same desired effect, but would fit the length of the voiceover. From here we decided to add dramatic piano playing over the top of Fehinti;s voice but in the background. I believe this gave the video a more dramatic edge .
At first, the piano seemed to drown out the sound of Fehinti's voice so we've tried to reduce the sound of the piano to be more fitting. All we have left to do now if add two more credits and that is pretty much it.
Our studio logo in my opinion, is still quite metalic. I thought it was going to be black and white which Adam says it is, but it looks completely grey/silver. I don't think this is very fitting as i think i've mentioned before, gravitational studios sounds natural, as gravity is natural, i think this should be reflected in our logo. I will talk to the group about this again on Wednesday and see what they think, i will feed back then...
Okay, well in today's lesson, we continued with the editing and also went to a quiet room to record Fehinti's voiceover. Fehinti read from the script that i wrote for him and i think it sounded quite good. When we added his voiceover to the footage that we already had, we did not have enough footage of the interrogation room to cover the length of it. Instead, we decided to put it into slow motion which would have the same desired effect, but would fit the length of the voiceover. From here we decided to add dramatic piano playing over the top of Fehinti;s voice but in the background. I believe this gave the video a more dramatic edge .
At first, the piano seemed to drown out the sound of Fehinti's voice so we've tried to reduce the sound of the piano to be more fitting. All we have left to do now if add two more credits and that is pretty much it.
Our studio logo in my opinion, is still quite metalic. I thought it was going to be black and white which Adam says it is, but it looks completely grey/silver. I don't think this is very fitting as i think i've mentioned before, gravitational studios sounds natural, as gravity is natural, i think this should be reflected in our logo. I will talk to the group about this again on Wednesday and see what they think, i will feed back then...
Sunday, 11 December 2011
Week Eight -Voicethread (editing)
This is a voicethread of me explaing what i did whilst editing. It's just a quick video, i wasn't entirely sure what i should explain but gave it a go :)

Wednesday, 7 December 2011
Week Eight -Where we are now
Today in the lesson we all had our individual jobs. I was on finishing the editing for the footage that i shot from the interrogation room whilst Fehinti and Adam worked on the titles.
Adam and I stayed behind to finish all the editing and put everything together from both locations and the titles. We managed to have 99% of the titles added to the footage and all the scenes added together. I think it looks really good and think it's better than a lot of media film openings that i've seen. All we need to do now is add our logo and the 20th century fox logo, the remainder of the titles then eveaulate it and we are ALLLL DONEEE !!!!!!!!!!
Adam and I stayed behind to finish all the editing and put everything together from both locations and the titles. We managed to have 99% of the titles added to the footage and all the scenes added together. I think it looks really good and think it's better than a lot of media film openings that i've seen. All we need to do now is add our logo and the 20th century fox logo, the remainder of the titles then eveaulate it and we are ALLLL DONEEE !!!!!!!!!!
Week Eight -Font

when Making the logo I used a program called live type , the apple software allowed me to a simple yet professional looking title. Above you see to the right side a tool bar that allows you to pick a font and edit it (Its really that simple) it gave us the option of animating the text as shown bellow

However we though that to animate it would be a bit much when we already have an animated logo , it would be easy and better fitting if we just kept it simple just like the other titles we looked at in the power point I uploaded.

When I got a the font I wanted I exported it to the desktop. Although it does not have a black background, when put in to the film it should have one but we will only put it in when we have finished editing the film footage
This is from Fehinti's blog and was done at a time that i was not available but have been caught up to speed.
Tuesday, 6 December 2011
Week Eight -Institution Logo
Okay, well ive changed my mind. I've just done a bit more research and looked at the trailer for taken. The institution Taken has used is 20th Century Fox. This institution will be the one we use the reason for this is because 20th Century Fox is very successful and produces a wide variety of films. I believe this would well represent us as a film. This institution has been around for a very long time -since it was founded on May 31th 1935 by William Fox.
We will use this in our film.
We will use this in our film.
Week Eight -Filming
Right. Well today we finished our filming that we would have finished last week but couldn't due to strikes. I filmed the scenes and Fehinti and Mr. Ellis acted as nine and the detective. Adam helped with the positioning of the actors, etc as he was not filming because he filmed our first location scenes.
I becan editing the footage that i had filmed that day, cutting out the part that i believe did not flow. Adam was Fehinti was.
The last institution i'm going to talk about is Dreamworks.
I becan editing the footage that i had filmed that day, cutting out the part that i believe did not flow. Adam was Fehinti was.
I was given the job of deciding which insititution we were going to use in our film. One of the options i looked at was Paramount pictures.
After researching the type of films Paramount pictures make, i thought that this institution could be a very good one for our film because the films they make are the bigger, more successful films. A few films they have made are: Hugo, Puss in boots and Paranormal Activity 3. These are highly popular films and i believe that if we use it in our film, it would suggest that our film would be in the league that Paramount pictures films are in if it were a real movie theatre film.
Another possibility is Universal Studios. This was also a very high contender as our chosen institution logo because of the success of the insitution.
Some of the films Universal Studios make are: Cowboys and Aliens, Larry Crowne and Tower Heist. These films are successful but aren't as well known which would suggest that the institution is not as big as Paramount Pictures which if this was to be a real movie, it may not get the same publicity as it would if we used Paramount. On the other hand, i think 'Universal Studios' sounds big and powerful which is a bit like out insitution's name 'Gravitational Studios' so i think they would go well together and sound more like a close partnership.The last institution i'm going to talk about is Dreamworks.
I have decided to evaluate this institution because i wanted to show what i didn't want. I believe that Dreamworks would be the wrong choice as our institution logo. This is because the type of films that Dreanworks produce and our film are not alike. Some of the films that Dreamworks have produced are: Shrek, Monsters v.s. Aliens and Kung Fu Panda which are animations and suitable for children. I think that if we used this institution then it would mislead our audience as they may think that as Dreamworks has worked on this film, that it's going to be a certain type of film (light-hearted and fun).
Friday, 2 December 2011
Week seven -Location Scouting

As you will have already seen this is the location we want to shoot in . Although it is easy access and reliable I have some concerns about it , in terms of how we will properly use the space and still keep our modern take of gritty film noir mise en scene.

One of my concerns was the use of space. In order to make sure we have enough space to use the techniques we have learned e.g the 180 degree rule we must properly plan where things will be placed. The picture above illustrates one way in which we may place the table ; if we did it this way each person would be either to the let and right of this picture meaning that our camera shots would not show the door nor anything else that might obscure attention away from the actors although the room is bleak any way. This placement may change when we get to the space as we may decide that is not the best way to do things however for now this stands as we can use up our time more efficiently instead of wasting it moving things around.

Another massive concern was the use of lighting, the lighting in the room is quite bright as you can see and this is not held by that fact that the room is a bright reflecting colour (which mean light is brighter as it ray bounce of the paint more and are not absorbed). also circled on the picture is quite a large amount of natural lighting coming through that cannot be blocked , as a large amount of light coming from the long office lighting at the top of the room.The reason this is a problem is because the more lighting we have the less the scene fits the film noir feel we are going for with the interrogation. However there is a way we can combat this and use the natural lighting to our advantage

If we place the camera to shoot from behind 9 (as planned) but at a lower angle we will make is face darker just like in the movie review I did a few weeks ago. I cannot be sure this will work without trying first so I will try and take some photos of the use of lighting before shooting properly.
Also to make sure the light is not over powering we will have to film when it get darker which shouldn't be a problem as it is the winter and it gets darker sooner.
This has been taken from Fehinti's blog. When Adam and Fehinti were at this location, i was given the task of researching fonts as to maximise the amount of work we got done in the short amount of time that we had.
Sunday, 27 November 2011
Week Seven -Font
I have been looking into different fonts and thought of the credits to Zombieland. I think the way the credits and the action interact with each other is very cleaver and interesting. I don't think we have the means to do something like this, but we could use it for inspiration e.g. stratigically placing cridits in places right next to where someone will be walking.
Saturday, 26 November 2011
Week Seven
We have found someone to play Detective Lewis called Mr Ellen. Mr Ellen is a teacher as Astley Cooper School where our location is. We intended to film on Wednesday but there are strikes going on so he will not be in school and we will not be able to get in to film. On Monday we will have a lesson and we will talk about where we go from here.
Wednesday, 23 November 2011
Week Seven -Font research
I have been looking into fonts and evaluating which would work best with our film and genre choice. Here are a few i traced from the computer:
This font i thought was more suited to a si-fi film and not the type of film we are making. It has the rounded, soft edges that the first font needed but isn't what we are looking for.
I thought this font would suit our film because it is ver similar to the examples i've seen (e.g. the poirot example). This could be a back up font or a font we use if we decided to use two different fonts for example, one font for the titles/credits and one for the name of our film.

I really liked this font but i think it's a bit too harsh. The fonts that i have looked at are more rounded and softer. The group also liked this option the most and we looked into other fonts that were similar but less harsh. We will most likely use this font or one very similar for our film.
I wanted a font option that was completely diffrent from what i had seen in other detective/crime fiction films. I didn't like this font very much and the group thought the same. It isn't what we are looking for as i wanted an example of what we knew we wanted to avoid.
I thought this font would suit our film because it is ver similar to the examples i've seen (e.g. the poirot example). This could be a back up font or a font we use if we decided to use two different fonts for example, one font for the titles/credits and one for the name of our film.
Week Seven -Discussing our opening scene
Here is a voice recording that i put onto voki of Adam and Fehinti talking about what we had all just discussed about how we should open our film. I am not talking in this voice recording but Fehinti mentions my idea.
My idea came from Adam's idea of having the beginning part showing flashes of the real scene of Laura after being kidnapped mixed with footage of her from the camera. This would disorientate the audience. I thought that his idea was very good and that after the flashes it could go black and we could then start the scene from where we were going to originally from Dective Lewis' mouth. In other words, the blackness from the footage would then turn into the blackness from inside the Detective's mouth. The scene would then continue like we planned on the storyboard zooming out from the Detective's mouth.

My idea came from Adam's idea of having the beginning part showing flashes of the real scene of Laura after being kidnapped mixed with footage of her from the camera. This would disorientate the audience. I thought that his idea was very good and that after the flashes it could go black and we could then start the scene from where we were going to originally from Dective Lewis' mouth. In other words, the blackness from the footage would then turn into the blackness from inside the Detective's mouth. The scene would then continue like we planned on the storyboard zooming out from the Detective's mouth.
Monday, 21 November 2011
Week Seven
Fehinti has created another possible logo for our company 'Gravitational Studios'.

I like Fehinti's logo creation and think that the blue goes with the earthy connotations 'Gravitational' has. I also liek the font. I think it's a strong type face which is what we wanted but think the silver is a bit too metalic which is the opposite to the natualy, earthy connotations i think of when i hear our studio name.
Fehinti also created an animated logo to put at the beginning of our film. The effect he used of the spinning letters was a good idea i think, it adds strength to the logo. The music in the background i think -if we used this- should be equally as strong but keeping in tone with the detective/crime fiction genre. (Fehinti has commented on his blog that he will not be using the backing sound track used in his example on the real one). http://fehintiastleyasmedia.blogspot.com/2011/11/gravitational-studios-possible-new-logo.html This is a link to his blog on the logo.

I like Fehinti's logo creation and think that the blue goes with the earthy connotations 'Gravitational' has. I also liek the font. I think it's a strong type face which is what we wanted but think the silver is a bit too metalic which is the opposite to the natualy, earthy connotations i think of when i hear our studio name.
Fehinti also created an animated logo to put at the beginning of our film. The effect he used of the spinning letters was a good idea i think, it adds strength to the logo. The music in the background i think -if we used this- should be equally as strong but keeping in tone with the detective/crime fiction genre. (Fehinti has commented on his blog that he will not be using the backing sound track used in his example on the real one). http://fehintiastleyasmedia.blogspot.com/2011/11/gravitational-studios-possible-new-logo.html This is a link to his blog on the logo.
Week seven -Action plan
My action plan for week seven.
I will show the group my personal research into fonts and sound/music and get their opinion on them. We will then have the font and music choices chosen. Next week Wednesday we will have had our filming completed as we will be filming the interrogation scenes at Astley Cooper School.
I will show the group my personal research into fonts and sound/music and get their opinion on them. We will then have the font and music choices chosen. Next week Wednesday we will have had our filming completed as we will be filming the interrogation scenes at Astley Cooper School.
Wednesday, 16 November 2011
Week six
In today's lesson we discussed what music we wanted over the top of the film we've begun to shoot. Fehinti has found a music producer and spoken to them about us using their music in our Media Project. They have agreed and as there are no copyrights on the music there will be no problem there. The music is also free so we would not have to pay to use it. This is one of our possibilities.
Week six -Filming
Yesterday evening Adam, Fehinti, our actor Laura and I went to Apsley Paper Mill to begin filming. We went down to our specific location and shot the scenes where the victim was kidnapped.
I think it went well as we got everything done that we needed and the location was very fitting.
Adam filmed the scenes in the Paper Mill and i took pictures as evidence. Fehinti played '9' as we had a cancellation with the actor who agreed to play him.
At our second location (the interrogation room) i will be doing majority of the filming so that we can share out who films.
We all played a role in directing and tried to make sure we had good continuity e.g. When Laura's cardigan fell off of her shoulder in the scene, it would be down in the next scene as well to add fluidity.
I think it went well as we got everything done that we needed and the location was very fitting.
Adam filmed the scenes in the Paper Mill and i took pictures as evidence. Fehinti played '9' as we had a cancellation with the actor who agreed to play him.
At our second location (the interrogation room) i will be doing majority of the filming so that we can share out who films.
We all played a role in directing and tried to make sure we had good continuity e.g. When Laura's cardigan fell off of her shoulder in the scene, it would be down in the next scene as well to add fluidity.
Tuesday, 15 November 2011
Week six -Action Plan
Monday
Prepare for the shooting on tuesday; this means: - Getting the props together - Make sure we are clear about the requirements of our actors and when we want them to arrive - Getting costume - Contact actors
Tuesday (record day)
We hope to record shots 6-11 with the added shot of the criminal '9' walking towards the space (we hope in doing this we will show more of the space and further emphasise the creepy period mise en scene)
Get recordings of sounds:
- of Laura pleading
- and/or the back ground e.g footsteps, water flowing
Wednesday
We will look over the footage and decide where we should add music and what mood and tone the music should have. We will also look into where we can add titles and credits although some title placements will have already been chosen whilst filming e.g. When filming we may film with extra room on the left to add titles.
Thursday
I am planning to research different sound tracks to get inspiration from to use in our film. I will then post them on my blog and show Adam as he is in charge of sound, to put our ideas together.
Prepare for the shooting on tuesday; this means: - Getting the props together - Make sure we are clear about the requirements of our actors and when we want them to arrive - Getting costume - Contact actors
Tuesday (record day)
We hope to record shots 6-11 with the added shot of the criminal '9' walking towards the space (we hope in doing this we will show more of the space and further emphasise the creepy period mise en scene)
Get recordings of sounds:
- of Laura pleading
- and/or the back ground e.g footsteps, water flowing
Wednesday
We will look over the footage and decide where we should add music and what mood and tone the music should have. We will also look into where we can add titles and credits although some title placements will have already been chosen whilst filming e.g. When filming we may film with extra room on the left to add titles.
Thursday
I am planning to research different sound tracks to get inspiration from to use in our film. I will then post them on my blog and show Adam as he is in charge of sound, to put our ideas together.
Week five -Roland Barthes
Roland Barthes three codes we used
- The enigma code (mystery man)
- The Proairetic Code (the bite-tension through action )
- The Semantic Code (gives additional meaning-the ear)
How does this help us to appeal to our audience:
- These things are using to draw in aand audiecne and seeing as our audince (men 18-35) said that they get drwan in by action tension and clues we should apeal to our audience as they are all thing included with the codes used in our story board.
Sunday, 13 November 2011
Week five -Potential Location
This is the location that Adan found at his work place. I think it would be an ideal location as it had an office that we could use as an interrogation room and it also has less developed areas that we could use at the kidnapping location.
The downside to this location is that it is in Watford and it would cost too much time and money to get there and back to film.
The downside to this location is that it is in Watford and it would cost too much time and money to get there and back to film.

Week five -Risk assessment form
Here us the risk assessment form for my location.
Where is the location?
Astley Cooper School.
Is the location inside or outside?
Inside.
Are there any electrical hazards?
Not that i can see.
If so, where are they and how can they, if at all, be solved?
N/A
Are there any weather hazards?
No, the location is inside.
If so, where are they and how can they, if at all, be solved?
N/A
Are there any other hazards?
Not that i can see.
If so, where are they and how can they, if at all, be solved?
N/A
Is the location well ventilated?
No, i'm not sure the windows open.
Other notes
The things i mentioned in my other post would have to be removed from the room to make the location seem more authentic.
Astley Cooper School.
Is the location inside or outside?
Inside.
Are there any electrical hazards?
Not that i can see.
If so, where are they and how can they, if at all, be solved?
N/A
Are there any weather hazards?
No, the location is inside.
If so, where are they and how can they, if at all, be solved?
N/A
Are there any other hazards?
Not that i can see.
If so, where are they and how can they, if at all, be solved?
N/A
Is the location well ventilated?
No, i'm not sure the windows open.
Other notes
The things i mentioned in my other post would have to be removed from the room to make the location seem more authentic.
Week five -Potential location


The room i have looked at may be too cluttered and to remove the clutter may pose health and safety hazards. I will fill in a risk assessment for this location.
Wednesday, 9 November 2011
Week five -Props (Mise en scene)
Props
The props we will use for the interrogation room will be:
A mug of coffee
2 glasses of water
A jug of water
Images of the location (Apsley Paper Mill)
A television or laptop
A remote control
2 chairs
A table
We wanted to limit the amount of props we had in the interrogation room as generally there is only a small amount of objects in the room.
We will also need:
Make up (for actors to make them look more like their character)
Rope (to tie the victims hands behind her back)
Mask (for 9 to wear)
ADD VOKI
The props we will use for the interrogation room will be:
A mug of coffee
2 glasses of water
A jug of water
Images of the location (Apsley Paper Mill)
A television or laptop
A remote control
2 chairs
A table
We wanted to limit the amount of props we had in the interrogation room as generally there is only a small amount of objects in the room.
We will also need:
Make up (for actors to make them look more like their character)
Rope (to tie the victims hands behind her back)
Mask (for 9 to wear)
ADD VOKI
Week five -Characters and costume
Laura
This character will be an 18 year-old woman who was kidnapped whilst walking around her house. We chose a costume to be casual and confortable as she would have only been an home. She will be wearing a jumper and plain leggings and will also be bare footted. She will bare footted because she was just at home realaxing. I also think that her having no shoes on makes her seem more vulnerable as shoes protect your feet and without shoes there is nothing protecting her feet. This could also be a metaphor for the woman as she is not protected in the situation.
This character will be an 18 year-old woman who was kidnapped whilst walking around her house. We chose a costume to be casual and confortable as she would have only been an home. She will be wearing a jumper and plain leggings and will also be bare footted. She will bare footted because she was just at home realaxing. I also think that her having no shoes on makes her seem more vulnerable as shoes protect your feet and without shoes there is nothing protecting her feet. This could also be a metaphor for the woman as she is not protected in the situation.
Week five -Characters and costume
The detective Lewis
The detective will be wearing clothes that don't really stand out and would make him blend in with other mean dressed in a suit. He will wear w plain white shirt which will be ironed and tucked into his trousers. His shirt will have slight minor creases that he would have gained as the day went on. There will also be some sharp creases around his trouser waist band to show he has had his shirt tucked in but as he has been moving the shirt has come up a bit. This will reflect the detective as in the interrogation room his main priority is not him clothes, but the suspect. Lewis still takes care in his appearance hence the ironed tucked in shirt.
He ill also be wearing a tie. The tie will be a boring tie in dull colour to symbolise the detectives life. Working on cases consumes majority of his time leaving little time for going out which isolates him making him seem more dull. We will also have him in dark trousers (black most likely) with smark black shoes. The shoes will be worn in as if he's had them a very long time but not over tired.
The detective will be wearing clothes that don't really stand out and would make him blend in with other mean dressed in a suit. He will wear w plain white shirt which will be ironed and tucked into his trousers. His shirt will have slight minor creases that he would have gained as the day went on. There will also be some sharp creases around his trouser waist band to show he has had his shirt tucked in but as he has been moving the shirt has come up a bit. This will reflect the detective as in the interrogation room his main priority is not him clothes, but the suspect. Lewis still takes care in his appearance hence the ironed tucked in shirt.
He ill also be wearing a tie. The tie will be a boring tie in dull colour to symbolise the detectives life. Working on cases consumes majority of his time leaving little time for going out which isolates him making him seem more dull. We will also have him in dark trousers (black most likely) with smark black shoes. The shoes will be worn in as if he's had them a very long time but not over tired.
Week five -Characters and costume
Our first character '9' will be a sinister character who is highly intelligent and believes he can out smart the police which makes him cocky and arrogant. Even when his face is shown in the interrogation room he will still seem mysterious and not give much away in his mannerisms. He will be well educated and have a southern English accent and be well spoken.

9 will be wearing dark coloured trousers and dark coloured shoes with a dark trench coat. We wanted him to be wearing earthy, dark colours which i think could reflect the person 9 is. 9 is a kidnapper and serial killer so he is a dark person and so are him clothes. The dark clothes also add to the mysterious persona he portrays.
Week five -Plan for the rest of this week and next
Plan
Today the plan is to have the walk through of our location completed and soon add it to my blog. I will have the risk assessments uploaded by Monday (Week 6) and we will hopefully begin filming in week 6.
We want to have our actors at our main location (Apsley Paper Mill) to start filming the middle scenes as they will be the most awkward to film as there are only specific times that we can film there.
During the day there would be loud noises coming from the machinery which we do not want in our film as it will lose authenticity so we will be filming after school generally.
Our other location -the interrogation room -will be filmed in a school as there are many unused rooms we can use. There are posters on the wall which would make the interrogation room look like it really is a school so we will be removing as many as we can and also using the focus tool on the camera to make the walls out of focus causing the audience to look at the subject and not the background.
By the end of week 6 we hope to have finished or almost finished filming for our first location.
Monday, 7 November 2011
Target Audience questionaire
This is the questionaire that Fehinti created and conducted as the questionaire was Fehinti's job. I think the questionaire went quite well and we now have something to work with when we come to filming ad we know what the target audience are like and want.
Week five -Target audience
We decided our video would be certificate 15. This is because it may feature mild occasional swearing but not repeated use. It will not include any dangerous behaviour (e.g. hanging, suicide and self-harming) and will not “glamorize” easily accessible weapons. There will be no drugs filmed at all or included in our film and there will also be no nudity or sexual activity. There will be some violence but it will not dwell on the infliction of pain or injuries. Gory images will not be included in our film and no reference to sexual violence.
We used the BBFC to verify the certificate we would give our film.
Week five -Script
I was given the job of creating the script and this is the script i created. I tried to put myself into the mind of the criminal and try to write what he himself would probably be thinking.
Script
Criminal: “It starts with a thought. The thought that I could actually do this and get away with it. The police want to believe that they can find her but deep down they realise I’ll never let up. I saw her working behind the bar one night and became obsessed. The way she looked at me she wanted me to take her, she was begging for it. I waited until she’d left and closed up to follow her home. Stealthily I crept ensuring I wouldn’t be detected, hiding behind every car and tree.
“Lunging forward I grabbed her strategically placing my thumb and forth finger on her neck –an old trick I’d learned –to knock her unconscious. I took her to this old dark abandoned warehouse. Tying her hands behind her back I laughed, the power I felt, dominance –I’m the alpha.”
Criminal is filming the woman.
[Woman is crying and pleading with the criminal to let her go]
The woman bites his ear.
[Criminal screams]
Back in the interrogation room when it is about to end.
Victim: [shouts] “WHERE IS SHE?”
I think this script may be too long so when we film we may need to alter it and cut it down a bit.
Thursday, 3 November 2011
Week Four -The Pitch
Yesterday we presented our pitch to the class. I think it was an average pitch. We added all of our work and research together onto a prezi and delegated different reading parts to different people in the group. I think to improve our pitch we could have ran through it a few more times so that we were completely prepared and i also think we should have added informaton about the actors we found and how we wanted our actors to be e.g. we want the criminal to be sinister and threatening as he is a criminal and a kidnapper. We also want him to be well educated as serial killers are generally highly intelligent.
Wednesday, 2 November 2011
Week Four -Synopsis
I have been looking at film synopses to gain ideas for the group synopsis. Here is an example of one of a synopsis i found:
The Departed
What i don't like about this synopsis is that it uses too many quotes (4). I believe this is excessive and will try to avoid this as i do not believe it looks good.
This is the synopsis we created for our film:
A kidnapping in London throws Detective Lewis Court into an intense game of hide and seek as the police attempt to uncover the location of the victim. The kidnapper referring to himself only as ‘9’ gives the police clues to the whereabouts of his victim but is she still alive? 9 is convinced he and Detective Lewis Court are connected by fate and sends videos of the victim to ensure he continues playing his game. The Detective is on the biggest case of his life that will either make or break him professionally, metally and physcally.
The Departed
Rookie cop Billy Costigan [Leonardo DiCaprio] grew up in crime. That makes him the perfect mole, the man on the inside of the mob run by boss Frank Costello [Jack Nicholson]. It’s his job to win Costello’s trust and help his detective handlers [Mark Wahlberg and Martin Sheen] bring Costello down. Meanwhile, SU officer Colin Sullivan [Matt Damon] has everyone’s trust. No one suspects he’s Costello’s mole. How these convert lives cross and collide is at the ferocious core of the widely acclaimed The Departed. Martin Scorsese directs, guiding a cast for the ages in a visceral talk of crime and consequences. This is searing, can’t-look-away filmmaking: like into the eyes of a con – or a cop – with a gun.
I liked this synopsis as it was very concise and to the point. The opening line grabs the readers attention and this is an aspect i'd like to put into our synopsis as i believe it is very effective. I also liked the way it ends with a gripping sentence which leaves the reader with that thought in their heads. This is something we will try to do in our synopsis.
I liked this synopsis as it was very concise and to the point. The opening line grabs the readers attention and this is an aspect i'd like to put into our synopsis as i believe it is very effective. I also liked the way it ends with a gripping sentence which leaves the reader with that thought in their heads. This is something we will try to do in our synopsis.
The Bourne Ultimatum
Academy award winner Matt Damon is trained assassin Jason Bourne. Having lost his memory and the one he loved, he is undeterred by the barrage of bullets from a new generation of highly-trained killers, tracking his every move and who will stop at nothing to prevent him from learning his true identity. The Bourne Ultimatum unfolds with heart-stopping action, death-defying stunts and white-knuckle excitement in the film critics are calling “The best action picture in decades”. –Maxim
This synopsis is similar but also slightly different. It has a powerful opening describing on the actors as an "award winner" which also grabs the readers attention. Although it is eye-catching, i don't think we will use this approach to attention seeking in our synopsis. On the other hand, i did like the use if quotes from magazines/news papers ""The best action picture in decades". -Maxim". This shows that not only the creators have enjoyed the film, but also the reviewers. This makes the synopsis seem less biased.
This synopsis is similar but also slightly different. It has a powerful opening describing on the actors as an "award winner" which also grabs the readers attention. Although it is eye-catching, i don't think we will use this approach to attention seeking in our synopsis. On the other hand, i did like the use if quotes from magazines/news papers ""The best action picture in decades". -Maxim". This shows that not only the creators have enjoyed the film, but also the reviewers. This makes the synopsis seem less biased.
Minority Report
Superstar Tom Cruise is “at his charismatic best” (Sunday Mirror) in director Steven Spielberg’s “terrific race against time thriller” (Radio Times).
For six years, Washington D.C. has been murder-free thanks to astounding technology which identifies killers before they commit their crimes. But when the chief of the Precrime Unit (Cruise) is himself accused of a future murder, he has just 36 hours to discover who set him up – or he’ll fall victim to the “perfect” system he helped create. It’s a mind-blowing action thriller that is “fascinating and utterly absorbing… a triumph not to be missed.” ***** (News of the World)
I also like the opening of this synopsis as it has another powerful opening which attracts attention. This seems to be the running theme with a synopsis and therefore, we will incorporate this into our synopsis.What i don't like about this synopsis is that it uses too many quotes (4). I believe this is excessive and will try to avoid this as i do not believe it looks good.
This is the synopsis we created for our film:
A kidnapping in London throws Detective Lewis Court into an intense game of hide and seek as the police attempt to uncover the location of the victim. The kidnapper referring to himself only as ‘9’ gives the police clues to the whereabouts of his victim but is she still alive? 9 is convinced he and Detective Lewis Court are connected by fate and sends videos of the victim to ensure he continues playing his game. The Detective is on the biggest case of his life that will either make or break him professionally, metally and physcally.
Helf term work -Logo
We also came up with a logo as we were not satisfied with our logo ideas. 'Gravitational Studios' was the logo Fehinti and i came up with. We decided that we wanted our logo to be big, not in size but in presence and wanted it to say 'gravitational' in a bold font with 'studios' as its shadow underneath it. As Adam was not present at our meeting due to foreseen circumstances, we thought we'd give him a sketch of the logo that we thought would look good and let Adam create that.

This is the first logo Adam presented to the group. Fehinti and i felt it didn't represent Gravitational Studios. We envisioned the logo being big, not in size but in presence. We also didn't think the lights in the background had much relevance and suggested that the 'gravitaional' should be in the centre with 'stuidos' as its shadow beneath it. Another idea we thought of was having the text have broken the ground beneath it which Fehinti and i thought would be more fitting.

This is the logo that Adam came to us with which we agreed was better and slightly more turned down.
This is the logo we will be using for our film.

This is the first logo Adam presented to the group. Fehinti and i felt it didn't represent Gravitational Studios. We envisioned the logo being big, not in size but in presence. We also didn't think the lights in the background had much relevance and suggested that the 'gravitaional' should be in the centre with 'stuidos' as its shadow beneath it. Another idea we thought of was having the text have broken the ground beneath it which Fehinti and i thought would be more fitting.

This is the logo that Adam came to us with which we agreed was better and slightly more turned down.
This is the logo we will be using for our film.
Hallf Term Work -Storyboard
On Monday, Fehinti and i met in Starbucks to create our storyboard and come up with more ideas for our coursework. Here is my storyboard of what Fehinti and i created.
1 Big close up on policeman’s face shouting, focusing on his mouth.
2 Zooming out on man’s face whilst still shouting.
3 The camera zooms out so far that it’s now filming from over the criminal’s left shoulder. Whilst this is happening, the shouting is muted and the only noise heard are the criminal’s thoughts as a voice over with very minimal music playing in the background.
4 The camera pans to outside depicting an autumn day with leaves falling from a tree.
5 The next shot shows the camera panning upwards into the tree, the shot then comes down from the tree but it’s now night time and dark. On the screen there will be text saying how many days or weeks prior to the interrogation the scene is.
6 This will then turn to a building. The camera will then cut to inside the building and the criminal is inside masked with his victim.
7 The camera will now be filming from over the victim’s left shoulder showing the criminal from a low angle.
8 The victim will be crying and pleading with the criminal and the shot will be over the criminals right shoulder at a high angle looking down on the victim.
9 There will now be a close up on the victims face.
10 The criminal will get out a hand held camera or phone and begin filming the victim.
11 The shot will from the criminal’s p.o.v. filming the victim with the criminal’s hand on the filming device.
12 The shot turns to what the camera is filming. The criminal is filming the victims face close up.
13 The victim jerks forward and bites the criminal’s ear but you won’t see this because the criminal wouldn’t be filming his ear. The criminal screams and drops the phone and all you can see is the floor from a different, sideways angle.
14 There is dramatic music as there is screaming in the background and heavy breathing. The screen is black.
15 The black screen is still there as the shot comes out of the tv/laptop in the interrogation room.
16 The policeman uses a remote control to pause the tv, then slams both hands on the table leaning forward and shouts ‘where is she?!’.
17 The shot changes to an over the shoulder shot over the policeman’s shoulder showing the criminals mouth smirking.
THE END
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