What was your contribution to the process during the planning, production and post production stages?
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Andrew
During the planning stages I completed my share of the planning work. I did the some of the storyboard and the shot list which was shared between me and James. I also did and did plenty of other tasks and background research in the planning stage. I also completed a mind map of possible film ideas in which we took some of our ideas from. I went to a range of different possible shooting places and did recee sheets. I also spent time looking for different places to shoot the film during weekends. I also went to see our final shooting place before we filmed. Another thing that I did was researched title design to see things that we wanted to have our titles similar too. I completed the film outline with timings and each different sections of shots for our film.
In the production stage I help put the set together with the head in the clamp the arm on the wall and I also helped putting the sheets up in a way suitable for our film. I filmed a range of different types of shots and helped with some others. I filmed shots such as the shot down the ladder and the shot of the actor falling against the wall after seeing the head. I also helped in shots I didn't film by holding the script for actors. I also kept track of which shots we had done and which shots we needed still to do and also making sure that any tripods or sheets etc were not in any of the shots.
In the post production stages I spent a large amount of time editing our piece and adding effects and transitions. This was often done as part of a group. Also as a group we worked on the soundtrack with everybody adding in their ideas. Also I did a lot of watching through our film and checking for continuity errors and for small pieces that needed to be edited.
James
In the planning stages when completing the folder, as well as completing my share of the planning including my textual analysis grid and other planning sheets, I came up with the brief outline of the plot for our film when brainstorming and then collaborated with Andy to complete the storyboard and shot list for the shoot as well as contributing to the group task of writing the script and coming up with a slideshow with Laura that we would use when pitching our idea to the class. I did research online as to possible locations to film our horror film and initiated recee trips that Andy also attended. I found a few abandoned or derelict buildings in Nottingham that people had previously used for photography projects and went to investigate them, but this did not prove suitable or realistic for our film. I therefore opted to use a family member’s garage and went to check the suitability for myself before asking Andy to accompany me on a full recee where photos were taken etc. As you can see from early recee photos, the location was not in suitable condition for shooting, so I spent time cleaning and dressing the set for the shoot before the final touches were made by the group. Another thing I managed to do in production was find both of our actors to play both parts in our film. Make-up was key in making our film look as authentic as possible so I felt it was important to get wounds and engravings look realistic. Therefore I spent time practising make-up possibilities with our actor and took test shots and photographs so we knew what we were doing on the night. In addition, I organised booking out the necessary equipment and props from college as well as organising lifts to and from the location in order to make the shoot as efficient as possible. Finally, I tried to upload photos and clips onto the blog to show our inspirations such as the ‘Paranormal Activity’ clip, ‘Dead Mans Shoes’ screenshots, ‘The Grudge’ title influences and make up ideas from the film Buried. In the production phase I loved watching the piece come together. I directed the shoot and filmed the majority of the shots displaying a wide variety including point-of-view shots, tracking shots, high angled CCTV shots as well as close ups down in the pit. I was also responsible for communicating with our actor and telling him what to do and how he could help to create the atmosphere and look we wanted for the film. Andy and Laura both helped on the shoot, filming some shots themselves. As a group we all gave ideas and made sure continuity was as good as possible, which proved successful as we encountered only one or two issues when editing.
In the post production stages it was really exciting being able to piece our film together to get the final product. I was the main contributor to the editing process and made sure everything ran smoothly. However, everyone played a part in the editing by adding their own input and ideas for transitions, titles, effects and shot order. One problem that we encountered when using the iMovie software was that the title banner for our newsreader intro would only last for 5 seconds then would disappear. Despite my attempts to search the different effects I couldn’t find a solution. So I got in contact with my teacher and managed to get the problem resolved with some guidance. It was done using PhotoShop and creating a green screen effect. By adding a green background then recreated the banner adding colours, text as well as a BBC logo I was then able to transfer this image onto iMovie. Then I used the green screen effect to overlap our original footage so the new news banner would remain throughout the 25 clip. Finally, I extracted audio from the original clip to solve possibly the biggest issue we faced when editing. After adding cast and crew titles to the film, I then helped to contribute towards composing the films soundtrack, something that was done as a group. It was then upto me to integrate both video and audio together to produce our final copy of our finished project.
Laura
Before I joined Andrew and James' group I helped with lots of the research in my previous group with Alex and Joe, looking at the narrative of many horror films and the kinds of titles they used. I also helped with audience research, looking at the codes and conventions of what could be in a horror film rated 15. And practiced the make up needed for the horror film that we were planning to make as a group.
Link to previous work with Joseph Louth and Alexander Parsons
In the planning stages for our horror film I helped with the research into other horror films, looking at the kinds of fonts used for titles. I also helped to put together the material for the pitch, working with James to create the powerpoint presentation. I also helped to complete many of the sheets in our planning folder, including production research in textual analysis and make up design sheet. And lots of other research into the types of things that we could include in our film.
During the filming of our horror film, I helped to dress the set, working with the group to put up the white bed sheets for 'Lights Out'. I also helped with some of the filming, tracking the actor as he walked along the pit to climb up the ladder. I also helped film some of the other shots, making sure that the camera was positioned properly and that you couldn't see any shadows of people in the group.
In the editing and post-production of our film I helped with some of the editing and worked with the group to create the soundtrack for our horror film and found the font that we wanted to use for the title, 'Forbidden' in our title sequence. Adding links from websites such as YouTube to show the kind of look we wanted for our horror film.
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