Feedback/ Changes to shoot

After editing our film, we realised that it did not meet a lot of the criteria in the mark scheme, it was lacking in different shot types and also continuity was an issue. Omar and I decided that it would be a good idea if we re filmed our whole 2 minutes again.

Re filming the 2 minutes again would benefit us, but would also present us with some issues such as finding a new location as the previous one that we used would not be available again, also our actors would not be available to use again, so we would have to find new actors, also as we would be using a new location, a new storyboard would have to be created again.

We know that it will be tough but we want to do it, in order to get a good grade.

Our synopsis, and theorist application will stay the same, as will our costume stylist and make up artist.

The only changes we will make will be the actors, location, script, storyboard and explanation of the 2 minutes.



Below are the changes we made:


Michael Brown played by: Omar Ayoubi

       

Reasons why we chose this actor:

We chose Omar to be our actor as he was next person to fill in if our previous actor Mansour got sick during filming, his acting skills are good and he fits the character description.


Location:

The new location is a house on de'havilland road in burnt oak. Below is a picture of it:

Explanation of 2 minutes:

SALINA comes home from work, she picks up her mail, and comes across a pale yellow envelope. She rips open the envelope and takes out a white anniversary card, she opens the card and then closes it back. SALINA walks into the living room and places the card on the mantlepiece, she looks uncomfortable. She walks away from the mantlepiece towards the kitchen, she opens her fridge and takes out a bottle of wine, gets a glass and pours a generous glass of wine into the glass. SALINA walks back to the living room and presses play on an answering machine, she walks over to the mantlepiece once again and looks at all the anniversary cards and photographs of a man and of SALINA. She raises her glass and says  'Happy Anniversary' and takes a big, long gulp. A man's voice plays from the answering machine, he is saying that he has got the tickets and is coming home soon, SALINA looks sad when she hears this message and strokes a photograph she just picked up of a young man. The message ends with the sound of a loud impact. A loud shout is heard coming from upstairs. SALINA blinks hard and starts to walk to the stairs. She goes up the stairs and enters a closed door, we see a rigid and stiff body laying on a double bed.  It is a man, he says 'Happy Anniversary' SALINA replies with ' thank you', she goes over to hug him, but the man does not move so she leans in. It becomes apparent that the man may be paralysed.

Props:

Below is a collage of all the props used in the new film.

Rough cut

Below is a finished edited version of our film:

 

Editing Day One : 28/03/11 Monday

On our first day of editing we found it difficult to do so because we had to use a new and more advanced program known as Adobe Premiere Pro CS4. This is because Nero was not as advanced enough to give us a good grade for our actual coursework. There are quite a few issues of continuity in our production, because of this we are forced to insert title screens in between the clips which do not flow. Most of the editing was done by Heather and I just made some suggestions but overall, not much was accomplished during the lesson. 

Filming day 3 : 22/03/11 Tuesday

On our third day of filming we managed to complete our two minute sequence, but with a lot of alterations. The store, Daily Mobility, in Burnt Oak were charging more than we had anticipated for the wheel chair and table. Due to this we changed the significant item from a wheel chair to a pair of crutches. We paid £30 pounds deposit and must pay another £5-£10 when we return the item. Instead of table with wheels, we ended up using a computer chair for our tracking and the floor inside the house was wooden, which made a lot of background noise, meaning we could only use tracking once in our entire two minute sequence.

Another problem we encountered was that due to the wheel chair problem, some of our costumes, props and scenarios did not add up making it even more difficult to film. I tried to save the day with an idea to change the genre into a thriller and our two minutes are about a depressed woman who lost her husband six months ago to a car accident, however when she gets home and enters her bedroom, she finds her husband getting changed as if he just arrived from work and was acting strangely normal. The sequence would end at that point, however in the rest of the film we would see her trying to figure out what is going on, and she finds out about a massive government conspiracy that targets few people, a conspiracy that her husband was aware of, the government where unaware of his accident and thought he had run off with the information so they sent an agent to take his place in his home to find out how much his wife knows about the conspiracy. Unfortunately, my crazy idea ended up depressing everyone further and I just shut up.

We also did not have the photo's taken to put into the photo frames, due to unavailability from our actors, we therefore had to have SALINA pick up a card and start crying, instead of a happy photo of Michael. The photos would have been good to use, as it would show the audience how happy Michael and Salina were before the accident. During this sequence, we also forgot to pan along the mantlepiece, to show the type of card that she was going to pick up, so it is not made clear that sheis picking up a valentine's day card.

To conclude the day, I would say we had major issues with continuity and also our mise en scene was not so great but we achieved what we intended to and hopefully we will fix any major issues at the editing table. :)

Filming day 2 : 18/03/11 Friday

On our second day of filming we ran into some difficulties as the shop we were planning to get the wheelchair and table from were having some paper work issues and were unable to sell or rent out anything until next week. As a result of this we were forced to turn the day of filming in to a rehearsal. However nobody was actually feeling like working seriously and so we ended the day early. Overall we were able to get one good shot of the conversation between SALINA and MICHAEL however due to mise en scene we are unable to keep the footage and use it in our finished edited version. In my opinion the day was a total failure as we were unable to film but not only that, we were unable to rehearse.

Filming day 1: 16/03/2011 Wednesday

On Wednesday 16th of March we had our first day of filming. We decided to film the first half of the opening, as our male actor was not available to film on this day. The first scene that we filmed was SALINA walking into her house. The first issues that we encountered was the table with wheels that we were going to hire from the shop daily mobility, was not available on that day, so instead of tracking and panning SALINA as she walked up towards her house, we just panned as she walked along the path.

Many parts of our storyboard now changed because we did not have the correct equipment to create a tracking shot. Although we did try to create one with a computer chair, without wheels it didn't go according to plan and was shaking too much. Below is a video extract of this:

Character comparisons

The character that we believe Salina Brown is similar to, is Sandra Bullock's character Margaret Tate in the film 'The Proposal' She is similar to her in the sense that, Margaret's mother and father passed away when she was young and she was forced to become more independent and mature and look after herself. This is a similar case for Salina as she was forced to fend for herself when her parents passed away when she was still at school. She had no older siblings, to help take care of her, she had to go it alone.


They are also similar in the way that they dress, Margaret dresses in black suits, which symbolises the empty and hollow feeling she is feeling in her heart because of the absence of her parents, Salina however wears these clothes to symbolise the depression and grievance she is feeling, now that she has become the main carer for her paralysed husband.





The clothing that she wears inspired the costume chosen
by our stylist for Salina to wear



Props

Below are pictures of the props we used in our film.

3 Anniversary cards bought from the card factory shop on edgware.













Microwave dinner bought from Iceland in edgware

Crutches hired from Daily mobility

Bag loaned to us by our lead actress Arjumand

Filming ideas

We have many different ideas on how to film our 2 minute opening, here are some of our favourite filming techniques from our favourite films, that will help to generate ideas on how to film our opening.

The Godfather opening - One of the things that i love about this scene, is the way that the camera is slowly tracking out from the close up of a mans face, to reveal the person he is talking to and turns into an OVS. I also like the asyncrhonous sound of the mans voice at the beginning when the credits are rolling, it adds tension to the scene, and makes the audience wonder who is talking and who they are talking to.

We would like to incorporate this idea into our filming, by having Scarlett start narrating while the screen is black and the credits are rolling, then the scene will fade from black and we see Scarlett walking along a street.

Another scene from the Godfather that I think was done really well in terms of camera shots and sound, was when Michael had to kill Sollozzo. There are quiet asynchronous sounds of two men speaking to Michael, to show that he is not listening to the conversation, there is the sound of a train passing by outside, which grows louder and louder as the camera is slowly tracking in on his face. the noise from the train is finally silenced by the deafening sound of Michael shooting Sollozzo.

Another scene from the Godfather that I think was done really well in terms of camera shots and sound, was when Michael had to kill Sollozzo. There are quiet asynchronous sounds of two men speaking to Michael, to show that he is not listening to the conversation, there is the sound of a train passing by outside, which grows louder and louder as the camera is slowly tracking in on his face. the noise from the train is finally silenced by the deafening sound of Michael shooting Sollozzo.

We would use these filming and sound techniques in our opening in the scene when Scarlett is looking at the photo frame. When she starts to hear the echo sounds of voices, we will hear the quiet asynchronous sound of the microwave going, slowly the voices will grow louder and louder, as the camera tracks in on her face. The voices would be silenced by the sound of Michael calling her.

Make up sampling

Make up video

Location recce

Location recce 2 on Prezi

Character comparisons

The character that we believe Salina Brown is similar to, is Sandra Bullock's character Margaret Tate in the film 'The Proposal' She is similar to her in the sense that, Margaret's mother and father passed away when she was young and she was forced to become more independent and mature and look after herself. This is a similar case for Salina as she was forced to fend for herself when her parents passed away when she was still at school. She had no older siblings, to help take care of her, she had to go it alone.


They are also similar in the way that they dress, Margaret dresses in black suits, which symbolises the empty and hollow feeling she is feeling in her heart because of the absence of her parents, Salina however wears these clothes to symbolise the depression and grievance she is feeling, now that she has become the main carer for her paralysed husband.





The clothing that she wears inspired the costume chosen
by our stylist for Salina to wear





Proposal/Pitch

In today's lesson we were told that we had to prepare a pitch/presentation to present to the class to try to sell our idea, we had to focus on the following points:

• Synopsis.
• An explanation of what is going to happen in 2minutes.
• Theorists that can be applied to our opening.
• Music and sound effects.
• Actors and how many?
• Locations.
• Crew members.
• List of equipment.
• Character Profiles.

Synopsis



'Can a miracle really become a burden'

Scarlett Rose is an orphaned girl who is studying science at college and dreams of becoming a doctor. Her grandmother has looked after her and her younger brother Michael, since their parents passed away 5 years ago. The family has had their fair share of heartache over the years but last year when Michael was involved in a traumatic car accident, the family feared that they had met there end. But a miracle struck when Michael survived the accident, but was left paralysed on one side. Scarlett was happy that Michael survived but with her grandmother now sick, she is left to be the sole carer and juggle studying as well. Has Michael's miracle survival really become a burden on Scarlett?

Explanation of 2 minutes



The film begins with an establishing shot of a street. There is a voice over of a girl's voice describing her life.The camera tracks with the girl as she walks along the street up to a house. There is an establishing shot of the house. She walks into the house, kicks off her shoes and hangs up her coat. She walks into the living room, it is dimly lit. She takes a microwaveable dinner out of the fridge and puts it in the microwave. She walks over to her mantelpiece and picks up a photo frame with a picture of a young couple and a little boy and girl. Scarlett says ' I miss you guys' Echo voices start to talk to her, the voices get louder and louder, until the sound  of a shout silences them. It is male voice and it is coming from upstairs, Scarlett walks up the stairs and turns into a room, that is also darkly lit. The camera follows Scarlett into the room and there is a POV shot of Scarlett looking at a wheelchair, then a phone then towards the bed, where a body was laying. The person in the bed speaks, he says' Scar, I dropped my phone, could you get it for me please.'  Scarlett reaches down and picks up the phone. The voice over resumes as Scarlett introduces her brother, and explains that he is paralysed. She hands him the phone. Scarlett and Michael stare at each other for a while. Michael asks Scarlett what is wrong. She explains that she is tired, and fed up. The scene ends when Scarlett says, 'It would've been better off if you had just died in the accident, I would've preferred that as opposed to this!' They stare at each other and then Scarlett walks out, the camera stays fixated on Michael and tracks in on his face to see his reaction.

Theorists application

The two theorists that can be applied to our 2 minute opening are Tzvetan Todorov (1939) Claude Levi Strauss (1908)

Claude Levi Strauss:

The binary opposites in our film would be Scarlett and Michael. They are in opposition for numerous reasons, such as gender, age, personality and abilities. Scarlett is a depressed female and is studying all the sciences at college, she is very independent, but is becoming strained because she has to look after Michael and she is able bodied, in relation to her brother Michael, who is dependent on Scarlett, paralysed and arrogant.

Tzvetan Todorov:

The element of equilibrium - Everything is balanced, Scarlett is coming home from college.

The disruption of equilibrium - Scarlett is called by Michael 
The recognition- Scarlett explains that she is fed up.
The attempt to restore equilibrium - Michael asks Scarlett, 'whats wrong?'
Return to equilibrium - N/A yet.

Music and Sound:

• Piano symphony - playing at the beginning of the film, coincides with the voice over.

Above is a sample of piano music, it is not the music we will use in our opening, but an example of the type of sound we want to achieve.

• Voice over - Scarlett speaks about her life.

Above is an example of how voice over is used in the movie Goodfellas. It is used so that the audience can understand how a character is feeling. This is the kind of effect we would like to achieve in our film. e also like the way that they use direct address at the end, it is as if they are talking to us. We would also like to incorporate this idea into our film.

• Sound of keys jingling.
• Sounds of Echoing voices of parents.
• Microwave bell.
• Asynchronous sound of Michael calling Scarlett

Actors:

Scarlett Rose - Sister - Actor is uknown
Michael Rose - Scarlett's brother - Actor is unknown

Character Profiles:

Scarlett Rose: 5'4, Dark brown hair and brown eyes.
She is 18 years of age. She is a mature and independent girl. Her parents died 2 years ago when she was still at school and was forced to fend for herself. She goes to college and is studying all the sciences, she is very ambitious and dreams of becoming a doctor. Since Michael's accident and her grandmother becoming ill, Scarlett has took it on herself to look after her little brother. Scarlett wears dark coloured clothing this is to represent the depression and strain she is feeling, now that she has to look after Michael.

Example character: Sandra Bullock - The Proposal



Sandra Bullock's character in the proposal is independent and mature and dresses in dark clothing.



Michael Rose: 5'5, short dark brown hair, dark brown eyes.
 Michael is 16 years old, he is Scarlett's younger brother. Michael has always been the bad boy, he followed the wrong crowds and this led to him being in a car accident. He is an arrogant boy and thinks he knows it all, but he is also a fighter. Since his accident he has been trying extensively to get better. He loves Scarlett, but believes that she is feeling burdened by looking after him.He misses his parents also. Michael dresses in shirts and trousers. He enjoys reading and drawing. He is very dependent on Scarlett.

Locations:

• A house/flat with dark lighting.
• A street
• A living room

Below is an example of the lighting and type of atmosphere we want to create inside the house.





Crew members:

• 3 cameramen
• 1 tracker, since we do not have a really dolly to track the camera along, we were hoping to place the camera on the tripod and onto a computer chair with wheels, or a table with wheels, below are pictures of both objects.

• 1 make up artist
• Costume stylist
• Prop Manager

Equipment:

• Camera
• SD card
• Lighting Below is an example of the type of lighting equipment we would use in our film.

• Tracker
• Cable
• Tripod
• Make up kit, this would be used to make our actors look older. Below is an example of how make up is used to make an actor look older.

This girl used make up to make herself look older, we don't want to make our actors look glamourous , but to make them seem older to the audience.

• Reflector, to reflect light. This used in filming to reflect sunlight and lighting on the actors face to create a certain effect, we would like to use this for Scarlett when she is walking along the road. Below is a picture of the reflector.

Below is a video of Omar and I presenting our pitch to our media class:



Target Audience