Animatic Reflections- Joint Commentary

First Shoot 5/2/12 : Snow!

Unfortunately  our scheduled shoot on Sunday had to be cancelled due to the heavy snowfall on Saturday night, and so it wasn't possible to travel to Potters Bar to do the shoot.  We have spoken with Mrs Blackborow about when we could do our second test shoot and have decided to do it on Sunday 19th February at the end of half term.  Although this will be doable, it falls just two days after we return from L.A. on our media trip, and so I assume we will be tired through the shoot.

Update

We recieved our green light after making several changes to our initial proposal.  We firstly clarified our plot, making sure that our opening sequence was presented thoroughly, including specific shots we would like to use. We also talked about the practicalities of our sequence, for instance the use of props such as the gun and how we would need to research the post production editing of a gun shot and the special effects make up on set for a head wound. 

After our pitch, we adressed the issue of our script.  Francis made an initial script to use as a template so we could build upon it.  Chris, our media technician read the script, and knowing what direction we wanted to go with it, wrote us a revised script with all the technical language you would expect to hear in our type of film, which we were very grateful for.  The revised script is posted on our group blog. 

We are now completing our animatic, and I have been working in the edit suite putting all our shots in order, whilst also choosing a suitable soundtrack that wasn't copyrighted and creating the titles consisting of our institutional information.

Proposal feedback: Individual reflections

Year 12 film pitch feedback group 2

Individual Reflections

I believe that institutionally we were successful in choosing a distribution company that suits our film as Miramax distribute stylised/indie films, and even distributed one of our main inspirations Kill Bill.  I think that the concept for our film is a good one as it targets both genders at a wide age range between 15-30 (primary audience).  However, in regards to our opening sequence presentation I believe that we were too brief and unclear as to what actually happens in our seqquence, and things that we had previously discarded were brought up as current ideas which further made our presentation unclear, such as the use of our male characters family.  Initially we were going to show his wife and child leaving the house but decided against it.  However we did not chage this on our initial treatment and so it was brought up by Miss blackborow, which then highlighted our lack of preparation.  We also had no evidence of research into our gun sounds and effects needed for this shot which was is a key shot in our opening.
   Having said that I believe I presented ok on the inspirations of The Bourne Trilogy and Casino Royale and how we could incorporate ideas from them and use them in our sequence.
  I wasn't surprised when Ms Blackborow and Mr Bayliss didn't give us a green light right away as there's still alot that we had to think about regarding our sequence, and it gave us time to think about the suggestions and criticisms that were brought up in our presention and how we could improve/resolve any problems.

Film/Opening sequence Inspiration

I think this Bourne Supremacy clip is good inspiration for our film as it is set in a domestic environment where Bourne and the other asset incorporate household objects into their fight sequence.  Also I do like the pace of the sequence; it starts off quite slow to suggest that there is little threat against Bourne and builds the tension of the situation for the audience. However the pace then quickens to suit the action of the fight sequence. The sequence presents the level of sophistication and proffessionalism of the characters which I'd hope to emulate for our opening sequence.


Similiarly with this Kill Bill: Volume 1 sequence, the fight sequence is also domesticated.  The use of household objects such as the frying pan and wooden table legs are smartly used to create an untypical environment for two assassins to fight in.  In contrast to the Bourne sequence, the action is much more rough and bloody, and the characters aren't sophisticated but are ruthless and use any means possible to try and injure eachother.

I'm Back!

Hi, starting our opening sequence coursework now, little late on the posting but expect to see alot of blog posts over the next term. Also i'll be posting on the group blog along with Natasha Jalonen and Francis Gillen.

Preliminary Evaluation

Who did you work with and how did you manage the task between you?
For the preliminary I worked with Raef Commissar and Jeng Au. In the sequence both myself and Raef were acting, and so the shots that we were both in were filmed by Jeng. I then filmed Raefs' individual shots and he did the same for me.
raef nico jeng group scan1
raef nico jeng scan2

How did you plan your sequence? What processes did you use? What theories did you try and take into account?
We first thought of the plot we wanted our sequence to follow, and knowing we had to incorporate match on action, shot/reverse shot/and the 180-degree rule into the sequence, made a shot list, a storyboard and a script. We tried to make sure that our sequence would achieved continuity so each shot followed chronologically.

What technology did you use to complete the task, and how did you use it?
To complete the task we used a canon legria HV40 with a tripod so we could adjust the framing and positioning of our shots and a boom microphone to capture our sound. In post production we used Adobe premiere pro CS3 to capture our footage and then edit our sequences using the razor and select tools.

What factors did you have to take into account when planning, shooting and editing?
When planning our sequence we had to take into account that we had to keep our sequence simple in order to achieve continuity. We had an hour to film all of our shots and so we needed to plan when we could use certain areas of the department for filming before production so that we could use our time effectively. While shooting our sequence we also made sure we made pre-roll and roll-on time so that it was easier to capture our footage when we edited.

How successful was your sequence? Please identify what worked well, and with hindsight, what would you improve/do differently?
I believe that our sequence was successful to the extent that it did achieve continuity and was easy to follow the plot outline. I believe that we worked together as a team by continuously co-operating between one another, which then helped us film the entire sequence within the time we had.  Our dialogue shots followed the 180-degree rule, we included a match on action shot with the fist hitting the table and the sliding of the photo, and also a shot/reverse shot with the character entering the room.  However, next time I would allow more time toproduce the  sequence to ensure we are not as rushed when filming.  I also believe that our lighting was quite dull and dark, and next time I would try to improve this by making it brighter and stronger, whilst still achieving the dark contrasting lighting in order for the sequence to have a sense of mystery.

What have you learnt from completing this task? Looking ahead, how will this learning be significant when completing the rest of your coursework?

From the task, I have learnt the importance of thorough planning to ensure that our production ran smoothly and everybody knew what and how things were meant to be done.  This understanding that good planning leads to an easier production will definately help us for our first project and we'll ensure that we plan every detail as much as possible.  I have learnt that the rules of continuity are essential to produce a flawless and engaging sequence, and for our upcoming project we will take shots such as match on action into account if we are to create a continuity sequence.