G321: Our Final Cut

This is our final cut for our creation of our film opening:

By Dan

G321: Rough Cut 3

Rough Cut 3 Feedback: Could you add some sound at the start? Change the font for four door as it is too hard to read. Could you move the end titles near to where the title of the film is.



We have looked at our feedback and we will take in what our feedback said and make the changes that are needed for our final cut. We are going to add some sound at the start, we will change the font of the four door institution because it was hard to read and we will move the end titles near to where the title of the film is.

By Connor and Dan

G321: Rough Cut 2

Rough Cut 2 Feedback: Where are your institutional logos like you designed? Where are the titles for the film? Piano non diegetic sound doesn't work - its too jazz club! Put the spelling out of ETHAN with the film title

We have looked at our feedback and we will try and take in what our feedback said and make the changes that are needed for rough cut 3. We are going to add our institutional logos, put the spelling out of Ethan closer to the film title, change the sound and add titles to the opening

By Connor

G321: Rough Cut 1

Rough Cut 1 Feedback : An interesting piece - leaves the audience left wondering what is wrong with the boy, Some good shots in there - nice establishing shot and pan, close up and long shots. You need to put in your titles to make it look like a film opening. The film title needs to be at around 40 seconds, not at the end of the piece. You need institutional logos and to fill in the missing section.



We have looked at our feedback and we will try and take in what our feedback said and make the changes that are needed for rough cut 2. We are going to add a CC, move our film title, cut down the first shot and add institutional logos.

By Connor and Dan

G321 : Directors Vlog

This is our directors Vlogs. It shows how our day ran and what happened throughout the day, it is similar to my diary of shoot but this shows us how it physically is running. this task is usueful because it can show us what problems we encountered and how we can tackle this in future. By Dan

G321: Diary of Shoot

This is a diary of the shoot, it shows aswell as our directors Vlogs the progression we went through throughout the days we were filming, it shows what shot was shot, what scene, how many takes, if sound needs top be synced, the quality of sound and video, video file number and any added comment.  

This helps us when coming into editing because we knowthe file number we need and which worked well so we know which to use in the actual film.
By Dan

G321: Final Decisions on Locations, Costumes, Props, Cast and Health and Safety

Locations

These are the final locations that we will be using;

The first location that will be used is a small-medium house in Ongar, the lounge will be used in the first scene for when Ethan is playing with his toy truck.

This is the hallway that we are going to use when Ethan walks out of the bedroom, down the hallway and into the kitchen.



This is the kitchen that we are going to use, it is also in the house pictured above and when fiming it will be the scene where Ethan looks at the photo.

This is the table that we will be using when Ethan picks up the picture frame and shouts "Noooooooo".


Costumes

These are the final costumes that we will be using;

Ethan will be wearing;

Vicky will be wearing;

Cast

Our cast from the auditions will be Simon playing Dr. Michael Staines. We Chose Simon for this role because we liked his accent and believed it could work well for the role of Michael Staines.

Teresa playing Vicky Hilling, we chose Teresa for this role because we believe she was good with her emotion in her delivery and had the correct look.

Ross playing Ethan, we chose Ross for this role because we believe he had the correct age and look to him, we felt he lacked in his voice but I was planning on doing some acting exercises with him to make him sound better on camera.

Props

These are the final props that we will be using;

Toy Truck

The toy truck was a prop we decided early on to keep as it going to be the focus for the Ethan character in the beginning of the first scene. There will be a close up shot of it before tilting up to Ethan.

Rug

We decided to keep this prop in as it helps to represent the Ethan character: the bright white representing the goodness in a normal child and the black showing the darkness in Ethan.
Sofas

We have kept the black sofas in the scene as this also helps to represent the darkness in Ethan/his illness.

Frame with Picture

There will be a photo frame with a picture of Ethan with his family: Ethan, Victoria (Mother), Tom (Brother) and possibly his Father.

Cast
This is our final cast that we will be using;





Health and Safety

These are the things that we have to take into consideration with health and safety when we are filming;

Us as producers should ensure, that people working with and for us are not exposed to risks to their health and safety. An example of what may be considered reasonably practicable would be if location filming was taking place in a warehouse with poor lighting. It would be appropriate to ensure that extra lighting is used and that all sharp or otherwise hazardous equipment is made safe. In this instance, some genres may pose more risks than others i.e. horror or action films or scenes involving animals may be more prone to halth and safety issues than other genres such as comedy perhaps.

When filming our piece we will be considering that everything around us is safe and that none of us would get hurt for example the cast and ourselves when filming. We also need to make sure that we dont put our own and casts safety at risk when we are filming in the kitchen as it could be dangerous with knives on the side, we will have to remove them because we have kids in our piece.

Us as the production team, should discuss safety issues before filming begins and take steps to avoid or reduce the risks identified above.


by Connor, Dan and Jack

G321: Animatic Storyboard

This is my animatic storyboard it shows the order in which my film will run and what music will be played where. Each cut will be a separate shot, these shots may change when filming and editing because we may feel it to work better.

By Dan

G321: Health and Safety when filming

These are the things that we have to take into consideration with health and safety when we are filming;

Us as producers should ensure, that people working with and for us are not exposed to risks to their health and safety. An example of what may be considered reasonably practicable would be if location filming was taking place in a warehouse with poor lighting. It would be appropriate to ensure that extra lighting is used and that all sharp or otherwise hazardous equipment is made safe. In this instance, some genres may pose more risks than others i.e. horror or action films or scenes involving animals may be more prone to halth and safety issues than other genres such as comedy perhaps.

When filming our piece we will be considering that everything around us is safe and that none of us would get hurt for example the cast and ourselves when filming. We also need to make sure that we dont put our own and casts safety at risk when we are filming in the kitchen as it could be dangerous with knives on the side, we will have to remove them because we have kids in our piece.

Us as the production team, should discuss safety issues before filming begins and take steps to avoid or reduce the risks identified above.

By Connor

G321: Photographic Storyboard

Ethan plays with the toy truck, whilst Dr Staines voiceover is playing.

OTS, Close Up

Ethan see his mother crying on the bed.

Mid-Shot

Ethan's mother asks him for a hug, but he just stands there.

Close-Up/Mid Shot

Ethan just continues to stare at her before going back downstairs.

Mid-Shot

Sees the picture of Tom (brother) and start to walk towards it.

Long-Shot

Picks up the picture and then just stares at it. Voiceover of Ethan and Tom playing together plays over the top.

OTS

Keeps on staring at the picture while the voiceover carries on.

Close-Up

Ethan throws the picture in anger, cut to black.

Mid-Shot

Jack and Dan

G321: Shot List

This is our shot list for our film opening, it shows the order in which we will shoot the film, what scene, shot no, shot type, location, time and any added comment, this will be taken with us on our shoot to help us get the shots done as quick and accurate as possible and know what we need when, it also tells us and the actors how the day will run.
By Dan

G321: Additional Research: Actor Techniques

I went looking for something that may help my film in the library and I found this book upon acting, in this book there was a section that spoke about screen acting, so i believed it would be a good idea give it a read and see what information i can gain from this. By doing so i gained some knowledge upon actors and also for my filming which I will use.

The first piece of useful information was this about vocal levels. It speaks about how different shots have different kinds of levels to speak at, which is useful for my actors because we have a variety of shots so for when Vicky is crying we will need her to be a lot louder with the crying when we are further away with the camera.

This here is useful for us when making the film, it basically talks about marking out the spots where your actors are meant to be in the scene with an X made of masking tape, so for us this will be useful for when we have Ethan is playing on the floor because we will use a variety of shots on him at this point so it will require us to be moving the camera a lot so the focus will be on him knowing where he should be for continuity reasons.

This part at the bottom here talks again about the use of precise and small movements when the camera is near and bigger for when its further away but the main part at the bottom here is the golden rules because we have new young actors on set they may be unaware of these rules so it is good for us to brief them on what they should and should not do, so this is useful for us as we shall be telling our actor playing Ethan to understand these rules and be more confident on set.

With gaining all the knowledge from this book, I will be running an actors workshop to help our actors become familiar with the camera and especially to focus upon our young actor because he is our main role and we need him to be at his best for when it comes to the shoot.
By Dan

G321: Auditions

Auditions will be taking place at three separate locations on 3 separate dates, we chose this because we believed we could see a wider range of auditions and also possible attract more auditions due to it be able to fit into someones time schedule. Unfortunately we could only get a few auditions because a few people failed to turn up, we managed to get two for Vicky (Victoria), one for the voice over of Dr Michael Staines and one for Ethan.



By Connor and Dan

G321: Props

Props

In our opening scene there will be two different locations; a living room and a bedroom. We are adding in and taking away some of the existing items in each of these settings to make it fit our piece better. However we will not be using all of these props. These are the props that may appear in each of the two scenes:

Toy Truck

The toy truck is going to be used (played with) by our main character, Ethan (the boy). The camera is going to be focused on to the truck with Ethan’s hand holding it before tilting up to Ethan himself. As this is a fairly big focus in the opening sequence, it will be used in the first scene only.

Toy Box

The toy box will be a background item, possibly being used by other children in the room with Ethan. It will be shown while a pan of the room occurs, eventually reaching Ethan and his toy truck. We may not use this prop in the final cut as it is a fairly big item and therefore may take away some of the focus from Ethan, the main character.

Family photograph (on its own)

This photo will not be in a frame and will be held by Ethan's mother (Victoria/Viki) while she is watching him play with the toy truck (as mentioned earlier). The camera will be focused on the picture with a close up while it is in her hands. As we already have another picture of the family in the opening sequence, we may not use this prop.

Glass of water

This will merely be a background prop simply to help to bring out the scene as being a family home. It will also be used so the actor can interact with the environment easier. We may not use this prop however because it will not bring much to the scene.

Rug

There will be a black and white (zebra print) rug placed around the middle of the room on the wooden floor. The toy box will possibly be placed on top of it. This is a prop that we will definitely use as it is something that one of our group already possess, therefore making it easier for us to get hold of. It will help to create a more 'homely' look.

Sofas

There will be two black sofas around the edge of the room. They will most likely be pointed to towards a television. These two sofas will both be used as they represent Ethan feelings. We will most likely move them around to fit better to the scene that we have planned.

Television

There will be a television possibly in the corner of the room. While the television will be moved around the room to help us set up the scene, it may not necessarily appear in the shot(s).

Picture Frame and Picture

There will be a picture frame with a picture of Ethan's family in it. These objects will become a point of interest to the Ethan character and there are multiple shots of him interacting with these two items.

By Jack

G321: How will we attract the Audience

The way we would attract the audience, as we are a mainstream company, would be through trailers on the internet and on TV, using synergy, cross media convergence, through advertisements, printing and audience research.

In Theaters

• Trailers are a main way of film promotion, because they are delivered directly to movie-goers. (internet as well) They screen in theatres before movie showings. Generally they tell the story of the movie in a highly condensed fashion compressing maximum appeal into two and half minutes.
• Film posters
• Slideshows - stills, trivia, and trivia games from the film, shown between movie showtimes.
• Standees (freestanding paperboard life-size image of figures from the film)
• Cardboard 3D displays

Television and Radio

• Hollywood movie distributors spend about $4 billion a year to buy paid advertising (30-second TV commercials, newspaper ads, etc.) and over half that total is placed on broadcast and cable TV, which are the main vehicles for advertising movies to audiences. TV is effective because it is an audio-visual medium – like film – and can deliver a vast audience quickly, which is crucial because films typically don’t linger in theaters more than 4–6 weeks, according to Marketing to Moviegoers: Second Edition.
• Product placement: paid active or passive insertion (as on-set posters, and action figures) of film brand in drama or sitcom shows, or as passing mentions in dialogue.
• Extended placement: full episodes of television talkshows , entertainment news programs, or network news programs, devoted to compensated exposure of the film, stars, clips, director, etc.
  • In addition, interviews with actors and directors which are filmed en masse at a hotel with local and national entertainment reporters which are featured on local news shows, programs on cable networks, and series such as Byron Allen's series of entertainment series like Entertainment Studios.
• Production and paid broadcast of behind-the-scenes documentary-style shows.
• Advance trailers, longer previews, or behind-the-scenes footage on rental videos and DVDs

Print

• Paid advertisement in newspapers, magazines, and inserts in books
• Comic special editions or special episodes

Merchandising

• Paid co-branding, or co-advertising (for example Aston Martin in James Bond films) of a product with the film
• Promotional giveaways: branded drink cups, toys, or food combinations at fast food chains

Audience Research

There are seven distinct types of research conducted by film distributors in connection with domestic theatrical releases.

When audience research is conducted for domestic release, it involves these areas:

• Positioning studies versus other films that will premiere at the same time.
• Test screenings of finished or nearly finished films; this is the most well known.
• Testing of audience response to advertising materials.
• Tracking surveys of audience awareness of a film starting six weeks before premiere.
• Exit surveys questioning film goers about their demographic makeup and effectiveness of marketing.
• Concept testing that would occur in development phase of a film before it is produced.

Audience research is a strong factor in determining the ability of a film to sell in theaters, which is ultimately how films make their money. As part of a movie's Marketing strategy, audience research comes into account as producers create promotional materials. These promotional materials consistently change and evolve as a direct consequence of audience research up until the film opens in theaters.

By Connor

G321: Character Profiles

Victoria Hilling (Mother)

Victoria is Mother of Ethan and for this role we decided to cast Nicole Kidman because we believed that she fit the role in the age range and to our target audience, our target audience being middle aged women the fact Nicole Kidman is 55 although she may be a little bit older than we expected we still believe she still looks middle aged. We would like her to wear quite dull and depressing clothes because we want to contrast her emotions through her clothes and scene to create a sad feel for the audience and although there will be an uplifting moment in our film we shall not change what she is wearing, she shall stick to the grey and dull kind of clothes.

This is the kind of dress we would like Victoria to be wearing because we believe it shows her torn emotional state, we also want her to wear cardigans because we believe it shows her as a fragile and protective of her body because she is still hung up over the loss of her husband and son.

 

Victoria would also wear grey plimpsolls when out of the house to make herself look a lot smaller than any other character except Ethan, to make her seem weaker than other characters. When she is in the house she shall wear slippers to make her look lazy and depressed because she is always tired and sleeping, trying to hide from her emotions.

Dr. Michael Staines

Dr. Michael Staines is doctor of boy Ethan and is also the one who discovers his illness and follows the family and everything that is happening with them and also discovers the truth behind this dark disease. For this role we cast Tom Hanks to play Doctor Michael Staines, we cast Tom Hanks as this role so we can appeal to a wider audience preferable american because it is one of the main places for mainstream film right now. Also he fits our criteria for the age we would like Michael Staines to be, we would like Michael to be quite old so it signifies he is a wise and experienced doctor. Tom Hanks is 56 years old, we would like to make him look a little bit older for him to suit the role a little bit more. We would do this by greying some of his hairs and using clothing to make him seem older.

 To make Tom Hanks look older and also to connote how wise he is as a doctor we shall give him glasses like these to connote his intellect and age, these glasses connote that through them being stereotypically round, to make it seem smarter but not to round for it to look dorky.

He will also also wear a lab coat like the one shown, to connote a stereotype of a doctor, to let the audience know that he is a doctor and is professional and trust worthy with the information that he gives to Victoria. The lab coat also connotes how he can also find the solution to the disease because he is able to experiment with chemical because the lab coat connotes how he is experienced with such reactions.

When Michael is at home he shall wear clothes like a cardigan to connote a stereotype of a older person and plain clothes like grey and navy blue underneath to connote how he is lonely and dull in his later life. Also he will wear black trousers constantly again to reflect his lonliness in later life.

Ethan

Ethan is our main character role and is the most important clothing wise. Ethan is the most important because he shall have the most screen time so whenever he is on screen an active audience will take in what is going on, so the clothes that he is wearing shall connote the mood that the scene is trying to get across, it is important to make the clothing suit for Ethan because if the scene does not suit what he is wearing then it will take away all the tension and feel from the scene. For this role we are opening up to auditions in the United Kingdom because we want to appeal to and English audience. Although our film is set in America we shall not change the accent of the English boy because we want to make the family moved from England to America, Nicole Kidman will be required to obtain the English accent for the family but all other roles except Tom, will be American.

For our opeing Ethan will be wearing a plain white shirt to show that he is pure and young but also plain because he doesnt feel any emotion towards his mother when she is crying infront of him. He will also wear plain black or grey trousers to again contrast his no emotions to the audience through what he is wearing. 

By Dan

G321: Mise En Scene

Clothing

Ethan - as he is just a small child, we had the idea of giving him a grey t-shirt , black and red cardigan and light grey tracksuit bottoms. We thought that these were suitable colours and they do not express much emotion as a colour. This echoes Ethan's lack of emotions.

Vicky - our idea was to emphasise her distress and sadness by having her in a grey/beige jumper and either black tracksuit bottoms or black jeans. Neither of these colours express any positive emotion, therefore helping to emphasise her sadness.

Lighting

In the very start of the opening, we planned on using natural lighting coming from the window behind Ethan. This was to show that Ethan's condition was a natural occurrence.

When the scene changes to Vicky in her bedroom, we will use some artificial lighting. However, there will not be much lighting, emphasising her sadness.  

Jack and Dan

G321: Hand Drawn Storyboard

This our initial story board for our opening scene. It includes what occurs in each of the scenes, as well as each different shot used and for how long.

By Dan