Character and Costumes

The characters in the opening sequence are very important. They have to be able to tell the story to the audience straight away and i want to try and achieve that with my group. So we have had a meeting and brain stormed a few ideas for the main costumes for the two characters.

The females background is torn, she is scarred from her X boyfriend broken forever. The scares on her body reveal the true story from what she has been though from her past violent relationship. This scared girl alone that I wanted to represent as what she once was, not what she was turned into by this boy.
The main costume that we chose is: Scarred Girl
Boots- Represent money, a good job. Has a good sense of style and class.

We wanted her attire to be casual but so the audience can think about what she is wearing and why.
Black Skinny jeans- Casual smart, also wanting the character to look good but not to make her seem out of background.

- First costume

The costume change: Scarred Girl
This costume change is in when Charlotte gets into the 'shower scene' this worked really well as we the women's trunks on the left are waterproof and had the supported bikini which straps could be tucked under so nothing was seen on camera. We got the filming done in two days which worked out really well for and stuck to the schedule that we planned. Sticking to meetings and times to meet.

The Bikini

The trunks

- Charlotte fully in costume 2

Here we are just about to film the second half of the opening sequence. This is the shower scene and as you can see we have chosen my shower room to film in as its open space and its reflective walls. (Another post coming shortly on that) We have put a blue screen across the window as we wanted to reflect the mood of the character and in some cases the colour blue represents an uneven mood, a disturbance.

Main costume Georgina-Stalker boyfriend:

This character is first know by when Charlotte reads a letter from him saying he is coming. He is properly introduced when he comes through the front door with the dusty lighting. The dusty lighting is to show the audience the characters personality, this worked really well and the feedback we received proved that this worked. We wanted to have a dark silhouette of the character walking up the stairs to show that he only came here to do one job.

These are my white trainers which we thought would look really good in the dark. Which did, we tested them before hand in a meeting going up my stairs in the dark to see whether it worked or not. They worked really well and was really pleased with the over all effect. We wanted to get a glow effect so that the audience could see a silhouette of my shape and then a stand out of white from my trainers as i walk up the stairs. The effect worked really well and as from the audiences comments we can tell to.

These trackies are so baggy its unbelievable, they are prefect for the 'chav' x boyfriend look. They work really well with the trainers and also with the big baggy Hoody.

A Baggy oxford university jumper, we later discovered that we did have to turn this inside out because of the print on the outside did show up on the camera noticeably which was OK as we worked around this and carried on as scheduled.

My times

I have been working to a busy schedule so i have been making a list of what i have been up to over the coming months and the meetings that the group and myself have had about the project to improve.

February 11Th- Meeting to brain storm the possible ideas of our outcome.
February 17Th- Location scouting, research costume.
February 21St- scheduled for shooting at first location, morning between 9-11o'clock. Completed first half of filming still on schedule.
February 21st later that night- As the set was still set up we decided to crack on later that night to complete the final stages. Final filming done.
February 25Th- Group meeting to watch over filmed pieces to see if there are any further filming needed to be done.
March 5Th- Started to edit as a team and discuss the time. Also started searching for background music that would suit the opening sequence.
March 23rd- group meeting to discuss the tracking music.
March 28Th- Two endings, which one?

Film genres

There are many type of genres in the industry, i have watched many of these in my time. I will name some of the genres that i know and have seen.
Comedy film are meant to amuse and humour the audience which are normally set to lighten the mood. e.g. Topic Thunder, Superbad
There are many types of comedy in the industry such as stand up, movies, theatres and many more. Comedy goes back centuries right back to the theatres.
Action Film usually include high energy, high energy and have a lot of stunts included. There the type of films that have the non-stop action battling between the two dimensional 'bad guys' and 'heroes'. e.g. James Bond
Adventure these are usually the exciting stories, very similar to or often paired with the action film. They bring the excitement into the audience e.g. Indiana Jones
Crime & Gangsta developed around the sinister actions of the criminal or mobsters, particularly bank robbers. e.g. American Gangster
Drama films that are serious, plot driven and portraying realistic characters, settings, life situations. These films would include the most realistic plots that would most relate to the audience as a day to day life.
Epics/Historical Films that include costume dramas, historical dramas, war films, medieval romps.
Horror films are designed to frighten and to invoke our hidden worst fears, often in a terrifying, shocking finale, while captivating and entertaining us at the same time in a cathartic experience. Horror films feature a wide range of styles.
Musical/dance films are cinematic forms that emphasize full-scale scores or song and dance routines in a significant way.
Sci-fi films are often quasi-scientific, visionary and imaginative - complete with heroes, aliens, distant planets, impossible quests, improbable settings, fantastic places e.g. Star wars
War films acknowledge the horror and heartbreak of war, letting the actual combat fighting. Saving private Ryan. The films that are produced about the war can portray images to the audience of what the war is like to them of how 'war life' was like etc.
Westerns are the major defining genre of the American film industry - a eulogy to the early days of the expansive American frontier.

Preliminary Task

The preliminary task was an excercise to help us get used to the equipment and organising events ect. We had to set groups and set tasks for ourselves getting used everything preparing for the real event to come.

The Brief Continiuty involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting on a chair opposite another character, exchanging a few words of dialogue. This task should demonstrate match on action, shot reverse shot and the 180 degree rule.

Match on action- single action seeming continious.

Shot reverse shot- showing character, then shot what the character is looking at.

180 degree rule- If you go past 180 degrees it gives the impression that they are sitting next to each other.

Next stage
-Looking at film pre-production
*Storyboard- sketch shots

*Casting people for film:
Me- controlled the camera as i have a steady hand
Georgina- has a clear voice and is also a good actor.
Sophie- steady pace, easy to work with and can follow directions well.

*Script:
Sophie- heya
Georgina- Alright
Sophie- Na, feeling a bit ill really, got a stomuch ache.
Georgina- oh im sure your be ok. Oh hows that D.T project going?
Sophie: ye, it going good, do you wanna come have a look?

We keep it simple as we were more interested about the camera skill and different angels that we had to do.

*Location- we decided to film it in school as it was the easiest for all of us to get there.

*Equipment- camera, tripod, tape. I found this hard as i have never really been good with ths equipment but it good easier.

This was an excercise to help our group get used to the equipment that was to prepare us for the task ahead for the final exam period.

Castings

Casting for the main task we have to decide who to cast as the characters for the opening sequence. We have two characters: the girl and the stalker male role. For this we had to think about the people that could be suitable for the roles but we all came to an agreement that because of the practicality of the three of us having to be on set when filming we shall be the characters. When thinking about who would be who we brain stormed about the ideas of who would be suitable for which role, here are our ideas:

Georgina Dembinski
I have previously done drama GCSE and have experience on set and work on facial expression that show emotion. I dont think that i would fit the characters description of the innocent girl that we have chosen as i think i do have a soft face but we do have another girl in line in the group 'charlotte' who fits the description better than i do. I think that i fit the description of the stalker better as i have more experience in that section.

Charlotte Beale

She has previously done GCSE drama and has carried on her education in drama into A-level and is an extreamly talented actress. I think that she will most fit the roll as the girl as she has alot of experience in drama doing expressions and acting from what i can recall. She has a soft face and a girly nature which makes her perfect for the part.

Chantelle Chamberlin

Chantelle has previously done GCSE drama and has now carried on to study it for A-level. I think that she has a soft smile but i dont think that she has the innocent look for the right look of the character. Her dark hair would be good for the male role as you would not be able to see under the clothing that we think we are preparing to use.

We have desided that we are going to use Chantelle as the main camera co-ordinator as she has a steady pace and a good eye for the right angle. We have also decided that I (Georgina Dembinski) will help when i am not on set helping with shots.