Juno, was a perfect film that we releated to during our production and pre-production stages because It's a great teen drama, which relates to issues such as teenage pregnancy and love. It's a film that all teenageers would want to watch, boys and girls. We wanted to try and portray this in our film; a film that both girls could relate too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20PQBtyfNZY
In this scene, Juno is walking down the street and you see her from the side, behind and what she can see (POV) we wanted to recreate this in our own film.
Handheld effect.
As i've stated before, we wanted the girl to look drugged up, which added this twisted feeling to our film, what is she doing? what is she thinking? what is she seeing? We decided to add this handheld, so we can see the girls veiw as she sees it. We recorded this girl walking from behind, and also actor also took the camera at one point and staggered with it, so we had two types of hand held, as if someone was watching her, and her point of veiw literally. We got this idea from bair witch, which is a horror that only uses handheld in their film. I watched this film for a idea of what we could do with the handheld effect, and my god, it was good. In the actual film it added a lot more suspense as it included the audience that little bit more; it felt like the audience was there with the character. http://www.blairwitch.com/
This is a scene from the blair witch project, which I personally think it works great. You can see the actors true emotions and fear, we really wanted to try and work this into our film so thats why we decided to give the actor the camera so we can also record her steps/ her point of veiw as well as behind her, to show the full picture of what is going on.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z66RpatHajQ
The handheld worked well in our film, We are both pleased with the way it turned out.
This is a scene from the blair witch project, which I personally think it works great. You can see the actors true emotions and fear, we really wanted to try and work this into our film so thats why we decided to give the actor the camera so we can also record her steps/ her point of veiw as well as behind her, to show the full picture of what is going on.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z66RpatHajQ
The handheld worked well in our film, We are both pleased with the way it turned out.
Equipment and How we found using it.
In our filming and editing stages we had to use a range of equipment to make sure our film works the best it could. We used all the equipment that the college offered and Hired them for the week. My group didn't look into using our own equipment as we didn't have it, and the equipment is pretty expensive to buy for a one off usage.
This is the equipment we used:
This is a very simular camera we used to record our feature film. It was quite simple to use, had a button to take a picture, and another button to zoom in and out. There was other features to the camera and we did attempt to play around with them i.e. the contrast. However because both Danielle and I was newbies to the whole camera, it didn't come out as nice as we orginally thought, so we stayed put with the basic recordings. apart from the focus, we played around with that alot and I will discuss this on another post later on.
This is a very similar camera stand we used during our recording/filming. We used this because we set our film outside, so we needed something to keep the camera at a balance which made our film straight and wonky. We used this on a few of our shots but not all of them because we was also using handheld. This is a good bit of equipment if you need to keep the camera nice and straight, but in my opinion it was a complete bugger! As we both had trouble actually getting the stand up and straight itself but with a bit of a play around, we sorted it and used it prefectly in our film.
I have added a picture of a hand to my equipment list because most of our film was actually recorded using handheld, We wanted to use handheld to make sure we gave our film that personal and more twisted effect and the fact that our main character was drugged up, the hand held allowed us to follow her footsteps and film her falling over and tilting the camera, which made it look more realistic.
In our editing stage, we used an apple I mac to edit our films. We used Imovie to create and edit our film. This stage was partly difficult because eventhough we had used the software before, we wanted to play around with the editing that little bit more, so that our film looked that more twisted. 
This is a picture of a clapper board which I found on the internet, we used this so that we could easily see which scenes was what in the editing stage. We did struggle using this as I was only danielle recording whilst I was acting so, it was a task to record and 'clap' at the same time. However it did help us in the editing stage to find and sort each take of our film. 
We used the internet for a range of things during the production of 'Forgotten'. For example:
We researched most worn outfit by teens; shirt, jeans and converse.
We researched music that will suit our film.
We researched appropriate places we could record in canterbury.
We researched opening times for the canterbury park
We researched bus and train times so that we could come back and record our film.
This is the equipment we used:
I have added a picture of a hand to my equipment list because most of our film was actually recorded using handheld, We wanted to use handheld to make sure we gave our film that personal and more twisted effect and the fact that our main character was drugged up, the hand held allowed us to follow her footsteps and film her falling over and tilting the camera, which made it look more realistic.
In our editing stage, we used an apple I mac to edit our films. We used Imovie to create and edit our film. This stage was partly difficult because eventhough we had used the software before, we wanted to play around with the editing that little bit more, so that our film looked that more twisted. 
This is a picture of a clapper board which I found on the internet, we used this so that we could easily see which scenes was what in the editing stage. We did struggle using this as I was only danielle recording whilst I was acting so, it was a task to record and 'clap' at the same time. However it did help us in the editing stage to find and sort each take of our film. 
We researched most worn outfit by teens; shirt, jeans and converse.
We researched music that will suit our film.
We researched appropriate places we could record in canterbury.
We researched opening times for the canterbury park
We researched bus and train times so that we could come back and record our film.
More research on genre- Teen Drama
As I've stated before our feature film, 'Forgotten' is a Teen Drama. I believe that programmes like Skins and Misfits are also Teen Dramas as they both fit the requirements just like our film. Last night I watched episodes of both dramas, personally I didnt like skins as the storylines seem very repetitive but misfts wasn't that bad. www.imdb.com
Skins: The story of a group of British teens who are trying to grow up and find love and happiness despite questionable parenting and teachers who more want to be friends (and lovers) rather than authority figures. Created by Bryan Elsey & Jamie Brittain. It stars Kaya Scodelario, Joe Dempsie and Mike Bailey. Rated a 18 because of the sexual content and drug abuse
Misfits:A group of kids doing community service get struck by lightning during a storm, and begin to develop superpowers. Created by Howard Overman and stars Iwan Rheon, Lauren Socha and Nathan Stewart-Jarrett. Rated a 15
Both Programmes relate to day to day teenage life, which is very similar to our film as it is about teenagers and drug abuse; teenagers will normally try drugs at least once in their lifes. Misfits however is slightly different to the normal teenage life, as they have super powers so it's not really as reflective compared to the skins. The best teen dramas contain three of the following:
Skins: The story of a group of British teens who are trying to grow up and find love and happiness despite questionable parenting and teachers who more want to be friends (and lovers) rather than authority figures. Created by Bryan Elsey & Jamie Brittain. It stars Kaya Scodelario, Joe Dempsie and Mike Bailey. Rated a 18 because of the sexual content and drug abuse
Both Programmes relate to day to day teenage life, which is very similar to our film as it is about teenagers and drug abuse; teenagers will normally try drugs at least once in their lifes. Misfits however is slightly different to the normal teenage life, as they have super powers so it's not really as reflective compared to the skins. The best teen dramas contain three of the following: - Sex
- Dating Issues
- Cheating
- Bad Grades
- Popularity Issues
- Outcasts
- Drugs
- Violence
- Abuse
- Pregnancy
- Homosexuality
- Running Away
- Cutting
- Suicidal
- Dease
- Parenting Issues
- Depressing
- Abandonment from Parent
- Money Issues
- Obesity
- Eating Disorders Bipolar
- Anger
- Predator
- Shoplifting
- Bullying
- Date Rape
- Rape
- Harassment
Soundtrack research - OTHER TRAILERS THAT HAVE BEEN CHANGED
So many trailers have been changed to show the complete opposite of the original trailer's theme. Here are some of my favourites which I have found over the internet, I found these by just searching randomly on YouTube- Trailers changed into horror or comedy...
Mary Poppins... Family into a Horror
Disney Horror, includes Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella etc..
Family into a Horror
The Shining Horror into a Romantic Comedy
Forrest Gump Family into Horror/Action
Mrs. Doubtfire Family into Horror/Action
WILLY WONKA- Family into a Horror
Toy Story Family into a Horror
Mary Poppins... Family into a Horror
Family into a Horror
The Shining Horror into a Romantic Comedy
Forrest Gump Family into Horror/Action
Mrs. Doubtfire Family into Horror/Action
WILLY WONKA- Family into a Horror
Toy Story Family into a Horror
Soundtrack research - NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET
This is similar to my previous post, that soundtracks change the look and feel of the film.
Teenage love comedy turned into a horror. - MEAN GIRLS
and I've found this one: Horror turned into a family comedy - NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 1984
Teenage love comedy turned into a horror. - MEAN GIRLS
and I've found this one: Horror turned into a family comedy - NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 1984
The ORIGINAL
The EDITED FAMILY COMEDY
Soundtrack research - MEAN GIRLS TRAILER
This is a trailer from a teen drama, MEAN GIRLS which is a love comedy between a group of teenagers at high school but it's been edited to make it sound like a horror movie..
I think it's great because it shows that music makes a complete difference, just by adding the suspense music in this particular trailer really made it look like a horror which it isn't.
This is the EDITED HORROR
This is the ORIGINAL
I think it's great because it shows that music makes a complete difference, just by adding the suspense music in this particular trailer really made it look like a horror which it isn't.
This is the EDITED HORROR
This is the ORIGINAL
Editing Suite - Day 5
Today, we had to simply add the music to our piece. We've had a lot of trouble with our music selection as we was just being too picky to what we wanted. Finally though, a boy in our class had something weird and wacky on his computer which was too our liking.
We used this in our film.
We used this in our film.
Sound track research- AMERICAN PIE
As American Pie is one of my favourite films, I decided to look into the soundtrack used in the 1999 film because it aims at the same audience as our film. Here are a few:
- "Anomaly (Calling Your Name)"
Written by BT (as Brian Transeau)
Performed by Libra Presents Taylor
Courtesy of Musicnow Records
- "At Last"
Music by Harry Warren
Lyrics by Mack Gordon
Performed by Etta James
Courtesy of MCA Records
under License from Universal Music Special Markets
- "Celebrity Skin"
Written by Courtney Love, Eric Erlandson, Billy Corgan
Performed by Hole
Courtesy of DGC Records
under License from Universal Music Special Markers
- "Don't You Forget About Me"
Written by Steve Schiff, Keith Forsey
- "Do You Believe In Magic"
Written by John Sebastian
- "Everything To Everyone"
Written by Art Alexakis, Craig Montoya, Greg Eklund
Performed by Everclear
Courtesy of Capitol Records
under License from EMI Music Special Markets
- "Flagpole Sitta"
Written by Evan Sult, Scan Nelson, Aaron Huffman, Jeff Lin
Performed by Harvey Danger
Courtesy of Slash/London Records USA
- "Find Your Way Back Home"
Written by J.R. Richards, Rodney Browning, Jim Wood, Scot Alexander and George Pendergast
Performed by Dishwalla
Courtesy of A&M Records
- "Following A Star"
Written by Dan Clark
Performed by Duke Daniels
Courtesy of E Pluribus Unum Recordings, L.L.C.
- "Going To Hell"
Written by The Brian Jonestown Massacre
Performed by The Brian Jonestown Massacre
Courtesy of TVT Records
- "Good Morning Baby"
Written by Dan Wilson and Bic Runga
Performed by Dan Wilson of Semisonic and Bic Runga
Dan Wilson appears Courtesy of MCA Records
Bic Runga appears Courtesy of Columbia Records
- "Glory"
Written by Mark McGrath, Charles Stan Frazier, Rodney Sheppard, Matthew Murphy Karges,
Craig Bullock and Joseph "MCG" Nichol
Performed by Sugar Ray
Produced under License from Atlantic Recording Corp.
by Arrangement with Warner Special Products
- "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)"
Written by Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, Eddie Holland (as Edward Holland Jr.)
- "I Never Thought You Would Come"
Written by Loni Rose
Performed by Loni Rose
Courtesy of Wayne Ledbetter for Eric Godtland
Management, Inc.
- "I Walk Alone"
Written by Thomas Flowers, Doug Eldridge, Ric Ivanesivich, Fred Nelson Jr.
Performed by Oleander
Courtesy of Republic Records/Universal Records
under License from Universal Music Special Markets
These songs are good for aiming at their audience, there is a mixture of beats and that, however I still feel we haven't found a song that reflects our soundtrack.
Soundtrack research - THRILLER
I found this website full of soundtrack and film reviews, it was really helpful, as I'm looking for a weird soundtrack music, maybe thriller would be a start,
The films mentioned in this article, I actually sat and watched. The best sound tracks in my opinion was Pulp fiction and The Departed. However, I still didn't think they matched our story line but it gave me a good idea on what to look for.
We are really after a twisted, weird and mental soundtrack for our film.
Film Soundtracks – The best from Thriller Movies
Published: September 15, 2009
Pulp Fiction Soundtrack
Highlighted by one of our users as an ecclectic bunch of fantastic singers / songs, Pulp Fiction soundtrack is a classic that should probably be on everyones cd shelf up and down the country. With classic singers like Al Green, Kool and the Gang, and not forgetting Dusty Springfield, this is one album that you have to own as part of your collection. Buy Pulp Fiction Soundtrack from Play.com
Highlighted by one of our users as an ecclectic bunch of fantastic singers / songs, Pulp Fiction soundtrack is a classic that should probably be on everyones cd shelf up and down the country. With classic singers like Al Green, Kool and the Gang, and not forgetting Dusty Springfield, this is one album that you have to own as part of your collection. Buy Pulp Fiction Soundtrack from Play.com
The Departed Soundtrack
Christopher Moltisantis last breath in the series of sopranos is given with the Departed soundtrack playing in the background. “This departed soundtracks a killer”. Reminiscing about his girlfriend, Chris finds refuge in the Departed soundtrack for its strong love ballads comprising of slow guitars and deep meanings. A definate soundtrack to get emotional over, the pink floyd cover of comfortable numb is definately worth it. Buy The Departed Soundtrack from Play.com
Christopher Moltisantis last breath in the series of sopranos is given with the Departed soundtrack playing in the background. “This departed soundtracks a killer”. Reminiscing about his girlfriend, Chris finds refuge in the Departed soundtrack for its strong love ballads comprising of slow guitars and deep meanings. A definate soundtrack to get emotional over, the pink floyd cover of comfortable numb is definately worth it. Buy The Departed Soundtrack from Play.com
American Gangster Soundtrack
Following the theme of the film and its plot of a gangster rising to the riches, only to be drawn back down to the dirt, the American Gangster soundtrack is formiddable in its suitability to the film. Artists such as Hank Shocklee, Public Enemy and Bobby Womack feature on the album, giving you a strong sounding album with well toned music. Buy Amercian Gangster Soundtrack from Play.com
Following the theme of the film and its plot of a gangster rising to the riches, only to be drawn back down to the dirt, the American Gangster soundtrack is formiddable in its suitability to the film. Artists such as Hank Shocklee, Public Enemy and Bobby Womack feature on the album, giving you a strong sounding album with well toned music. Buy Amercian Gangster Soundtrack from Play.com
A Clockwork Orange Soundtrack
Stanley Kubrics crazed film about a jailed reformant who agrees to some goverment therapy has a winning soundtrack. The film’s counter culture was made concrete when David Bowie used the film music to announce his entrance on to the Ziggy Stardust gigs. The official soundtrack album included orchestral selections and Gene Kelly’s ‘Singin’ in the Rain’, as licencensed by Kubrick after it was performed by Malcolm McDowell. Some naturalists prefer the Wendy Carlos’s Complete Original Score album which features all the music generated by Carlos and producer Rachel Elkind for the film, but I think this one will do just fine. Buy A Clockwork Orange Soundtrack from Play.com
Stanley Kubrics crazed film about a jailed reformant who agrees to some goverment therapy has a winning soundtrack. The film’s counter culture was made concrete when David Bowie used the film music to announce his entrance on to the Ziggy Stardust gigs. The official soundtrack album included orchestral selections and Gene Kelly’s ‘Singin’ in the Rain’, as licencensed by Kubrick after it was performed by Malcolm McDowell. Some naturalists prefer the Wendy Carlos’s Complete Original Score album which features all the music generated by Carlos and producer Rachel Elkind for the film, but I think this one will do just fine. Buy A Clockwork Orange Soundtrack from Play.com
Editing Suite -Day 4
Today, we continued adding music and sound effects to our film.
Our original music was found on musigh.com , we chose three which we thought personally was a good choice for our film, as the music was soft and gentle. So we took this back and added it to our film, however it didn't sound right with our film, because even though it was calming as the girl was killing herself and it was a delicate story line. The girl was drugged, so we decided to look into other music which was a more weird, hopefully that would fit our story line even better!
We will be looking at crazy music, next lesson.
Our original music was found on musigh.com , we chose three which we thought personally was a good choice for our film, as the music was soft and gentle. So we took this back and added it to our film, however it didn't sound right with our film, because even though it was calming as the girl was killing herself and it was a delicate story line. The girl was drugged, so we decided to look into other music which was a more weird, hopefully that would fit our story line even better!
We will be looking at crazy music, next lesson.
Teen Films
I have found a list of teen films on the internet:
- 100 Girls (2000)
- Bring It On (2000)
- Cherry Falls (2000)
- L.I.E. (2000)
- Psycho Beach Party (2000)
- Scary Movie (2000)
- The Virgin Suicides (2000)
- Crazy/Beautiful (2001)
- Donnie Darko (2001)
- The Glass House (2001)
- How High (2001)
- Save The Last Dance (2001)
- Swimfan (2002)
- Elephant (2003)
- Love Don't Cost a Thing (2003)
- Mean Girls (2004)
- The Girl Next Door (2004)
- Thumbsucker (2005)
- Aquamarine (2006)
- ATL (2006)
- Brick (2006)
- John Tucker Must Die (2006)
- She's the Man (2006)
- Charlie Bartlett (2007)
- Rocket Science (2007)
- Superbad (2007)
- Assassination of a High School President (2008)
- The Class (2008)
- The House Bunny (2008)
- Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (2008)
- 17 Again (2009)
- An Education (2009)
- The French Kissers (2009)
- Genova (2009)
- Jennifer's Body (2009)
- Miss March (2009)
- Nowhere Boy (2009)
- Precious (2009)
- Samson and Delilah (2009)
- Wild Cherry (2009)
- Easy A (2010)
- Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)
- Mean Girls 2 (2011)
- I Am Number Four (2011)
- Prom (2011)
- Monte Carlo (2011)
Editing Suite- Day 3
Today, we continued working on our own films. We basically spent most of our time watching it back over and over again to see if we can make any changed to the main parts of the film.
We decided to add more jump cuts in the start of our film because it made it look more effective. As the character took drugs in the opening scene we wanted to continue this through-out our film so she does look a mess and out of it. We done this in a way that the effect doesn't look over the top (HOPEFULLY) if not, it doesnt matter as we will just keep playing around with it until our hearts are content.
We decided to add more jump cuts in the start of our film because it made it look more effective. As the character took drugs in the opening scene we wanted to continue this through-out our film so she does look a mess and out of it. We done this in a way that the effect doesn't look over the top (HOPEFULLY) if not, it doesnt matter as we will just keep playing around with it until our hearts are content.
Teen Drama Research - Take 2
I continued to reasearch into different teen dramas that are out there..
Teen dramas have got to be one of my favourite styles of film and TV because I can personally relate to them in some cases, as they are based on issues that teenagers will probably have to go through at least once in their teenage life. These issues/ problems are:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: An ordinary girl (Sarah Michelle Gellar) learns she's not so ordinary. She's the Slayer who must battle vampires, demons and other supernatural bad guys. All this while struggling with normal teen preoccupations in one of the most innovative dramas of the 1990s. I have watched buffy before and I do like it because each show has a good story line to it which keeps me off my seat and questioning what's going to happen next.
Dawson's Creek:
This perennial favourite revolved around friends Dawson (James Van Der Beek), Joey (Katie Holmes), Pacey (Joshua Jackson) and Jen (Michelle Williams). Everyone falls in and out of love; there are more twists and turns than Birmingham's Spaghetti Junction. I have never watched this, because it simply doesnt appeal to me, even by looking at this photograph makes it look boring and out dated.
Skins:
Smallville: I really like this show, because it links in with so many issues to do with teenagers. 
The OC: I have seen this show advertised many times on the TV but I doubt i'll be watching it any soon because eventhough it deals with teenager issues, the girls just annoy me. They just seem so fake.
Glee: The US smash hit follows an optimistic high school teacher as he attempts to inspire a group of oddball teenagers to realise their true star potential. The show has become a huge phenomenon, with impressive ratings on both sides of the Atlantic. I personally don't like glee because it's all about singing and dancing and i'm really not into that but as a TV drama it's very popular.
Teen dramas have got to be one of my favourite styles of film and TV because I can personally relate to them in some cases, as they are based on issues that teenagers will probably have to go through at least once in their teenage life. These issues/ problems are:
- Coming of age
- First love
- Rebellion
- Conflict with parents
- Teen angst
- Alienation
- Sex
- Drugs
- Alcohol
- Sexuality- (gays and lesbians)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: 
This perennial favourite revolved around friends Dawson (James Van Der Beek), Joey (Katie Holmes), Pacey (Joshua Jackson) and Jen (Michelle Williams). Everyone falls in and out of love; there are more twists and turns than Birmingham's Spaghetti Junction. I have never watched this, because it simply doesnt appeal to me, even by looking at this photograph makes it look boring and out dated.
Sex, drugs and rock and roll... for 16-year-olds. If you've never seen E4's home-grown drama before, think an x-rated episode of Grange Hill. Skins follows a group of lively teenagers in Bristol who are almost too cool for school... some of them anyway. I love skins, it's just so dramatic and so close to teenagers these days, in most of the storylines you can really connect and feel emotion towards the characters; they really make you feel like you are in their shoes.
Smallville: I really like this show, because it links in with so many issues to do with teenagers. 
Glee: Editing Suite - Day 2
We have carried on with what we was doing previously, cutting and editing sections.
We also started creating different credits for our film, and started to design our production company logo.
I researched into different production companies and their logos, instead of looking on the internet like I normally do, I sat there and watched a selection of films from my DVD collection and these are the company logos which were used:
We also started creating different credits for our film, and started to design our production company logo.
I researched into different production companies and their logos, instead of looking on the internet like I normally do, I sat there and watched a selection of films from my DVD collection and these are the company logos which were used:
What genre is our film?
Today we discussed what genre we actually think our film is, and we've come to the conclusion that it has the feel of a teen drama, where it's all mysteriously modern. Plus, young adults have to face troublesome challenges/situations in a mature content; I think that sums up our film pretty well because it's a vulnerable young adult who is playing the lead, who has to face a particular situation. I have researched on the Internet some of the teen dramas out there...
These are suppose to be the top 10 best teen drama movies. www.screenjunkies.com
My favourite out of these is 'Juno', I've watched this film thousands times yet it still makes me laugh. Even though it is a comedy, it also shows a serious and mature story line about teenage pregnancy. I think because i'm a girl myself I can connect to the story line myself, as it's a situation that could happen to me. Here is a trailer of the film 'Juno' ... www.youtube.com
These are suppose to be the top 10 best teen drama movies. www.screenjunkies.com
- "Precious" This story revolves around a teen girl named Precious who became pregnant for the second time with her father's child. Against all odds, Precious tries to get her life in order with the help of a sympathetic teacher. This is one of the best teen drama movies because it's a powerful story that can pull on anyone's heartstrings.
- "Rebel Without a Cause" Troubled teen Jim Stark finds himself in a new town after his family moves. He falls for Judy, an innocent girl, but that doesn't curve his desire for the fast life. Jim feels the need to prove himself to classmate,s which leads to a deadly game of chicken. This classic teen drama movie stars James Dean as Jim Stark and Natalie Wood as Judy.
- "Thirteen" One of the best teen drama movies is about 13-year-old Tracy's downward spiral into sex, drugs and self-mutilation. Tracy starts off as an innocent teen until she befriends a popular classmate, Evie. The story revolves around the two girls' friendship and Tracy's mother's struggle to get a hold of her teen daughter.
- "Almost Famous" A teen boy winds up being assigned to write a story by "Rolling Stone." His job entails following a popular band to get the inside scoop. While on the road he encounters, sex, drugs and rock and roll. This is one of the best teen drama movie because it sheds a truthful light on the gritty world of the music industry.
- "A Walk to Remember" A popular student finds himself in a relationship with Jamie, a reverend's daughter in the teen movie "A Walk to Remember." The unlikely pair fall in love, but Jamie harvests a deep secret. There is no cookie cutter ending to the love story in the teen drama movie, which is heartbreaking but sincere.
- "Dead Poets Society" English teacher John Keating inspires students through a secret poetry society. An unfortunate death occurs and Keating is blamed and fired. The teen drama is a heartfelt tale about his students rally to get his job back as a thank you to Keating for being a positive influence on their lives.
- "Heathers" A popular group of girls who are all named Heather rulhigh school. The only non-Heather is Veronica, who secretly hates her tight-knit group of girlfriends. Drama ensues when Veronica and her new boyfriend start to plot the deaths of all the Heathers.
- "The Outsiders" The classic teen drama movie is based on a novel by S.E. Hinton. It follows two groups of teens who hate each other: "The Socials" and "The Greasers." The war between the two groups of male teenagers cause the town to divide and blood to be shed.
- "Kids" The 1995 teen drama movie is a dark tale about kids who have no parental boundaries. The teenagers live a carefree life and have the assumption nothing bad will ever happen. Unknowingly, one of the teens contracts H.I.V. which causes a chain reaction of everyone being at risk since they freely have sex with each other.
- "Juno" One of the best teen dramas is about a high-school girl's unexpected pregnancy and journey of placing her baby for adoption. Juno comes from a good, strong family and after having sex once, she finds herself pregnant. The movie follows Juno's journey through finding adoptive parents and making a connection with the up tight couple.
My favourite out of these is 'Juno', I've watched this film thousands times yet it still makes me laugh. Even though it is a comedy, it also shows a serious and mature story line about teenage pregnancy. I think because i'm a girl myself I can connect to the story line myself, as it's a situation that could happen to me. Here is a trailer of the film 'Juno' ... www.youtube.com
Editing Suite - Day 1
We are now editing our opening scene on the Apple Imacs in the editing suite at college. We are using IMovie because we are familiar with the particular software, so it will limit the time we will waste getting use to the other software we could of used; final cut pro.
So far this is what we've done:
- Selected all the takes we wanted in our final piece
- Moved all the takes in the correct order, on how we wanted it to look in our final piece
- We decided to make sharp and edgy cuts through out the movie, we still aren't too sure if we like this effect 100% so what we are going to do is leave it until the last minute and come back to it when we decide
- added footsteps sound effects on the points where I'm walking
- added 'suspense' sound effect on the starting and ending of the film
- added 'heartbeat' sound effects on the start of the film
Filming stage is complete..
Filming is now complete.
We are quite impressed what we've done, We took plenty of shots which will help us in the editing process.
Character and Costume - Houston we have a problem :(
Originally, as neither of us wanted to act again in this task, We was going to get one of our friends to come in a act the main character, However this plan fell down south because where the girl we asked to do it, lived no where near Canterbury, we had to organise the shooting around her and most of the time it wasn't suitable and because our scene was during the day we couldn't do it when she was available after work etc. I decided to take on the roll, and actually record myself acting. Embarrassing stuff.
However, it went okay!
This was the characters costume, well something similar:
However, it went okay!
This was the characters costume, well something similar:
Main Task:
As we've got more skills now from the first task, we have moved on to a longer opening scene which has to last 2 minutes.
In our research section of the assignment, we watched films and opening scenes of a variety of films such as:
- City of the gods
- Brokeback mountain
- Blue Velvet
This allowed us to gather more information in how we would like our films to look like and what they are actually about. I stayed in the same group as last time; Danielle Fagg and Ollie Barnes. We orginally came up the idea with a chase which ends in a character killing herself, but then we decided to change the story completely to the character gets dumped by her boyfriend and takes drugs, simple as that. We decided to change it because we thought we could do a lot more to a basic film rather than a complicated one.
We had to do a paper trail just like the first task this included:
- Location Recce Sheet -We chose my house and the canterbury town park as our locations
- Call Sheet
- Risk Assessment - The two risks we had was dropping the equipment and tripping over
- Media Shooting Script
- Story board
I have scanned in a sample of my paper trail...
This on is my Location Recce Sheet.
'Mum I'm Pregnant'
Ignore our acting skills and my high pitched voice!!!
Preliminary Task
Research part of the task
When we first started the AS Level in September we was given a preliminary task which allowed us to pick up the basics and fresh skills which was necessary to create a 60-90 second opening scene to a film.
This opening scene had to involve a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down on a chair opposite another character whom he/she then has to exchange a couple of lines of dialogue. It had to also demonstrate certain things on top of basic filming and editing skills:
- Match on action - We had to use the match on action skill as the character walks through the door.
- Shot Reverse Shot - We had to show this certain shot by the switching between the characters exchanging dialogue in a over the shoulder manner. dialogue
- 180 degree rule -We had to use the rule that basically means that the camera cannot cross the line while you are filming. It's not normally used, but sometimes it is in aim to confuse the audience
Before we even started to think about our task, as a class we got taught all about the different camera shots and angles. This was helpful to me because even though I done Media Studies previously as a subject (GCSE) It refreshed my memory whilst still learning the extra shots etc.
The different angles we discussed were:
- Long Shot-LS
- Mid Shot-MS
- Medium Long Shot-MLS
- Medium Close Up-MCU
- Close Up-CU
- High Angle-HA
- Low Angle-LA
- Point of View-POV
- Crane Shot-CS
- Over the shoulder-OTS
- Reverse Shot-RS
- Two Shot-TS
After looking at camera shots we then went onto looking at different camera movements.
- Track
- Pan
- Tilt
With our new knowledge of camera angles, movements and shots. We watched a variety of film openings, so that we can pick out when they are used but at the same time get our own ideas for our opening scene. The films we looked at was Slumdog Millionaire, Training Day, American Beauty and Fight Club. In each of these films we had to take notes of everything that the director has used in the opening scene which includes shots, angles, movement, lighting, sounds etc.
Here is one of mine, on Training Day:
The opening sequence is the shot where a man is getting out of bed,then turning his alarm clock off. This is a medium shot going into a close up which shows the first location. The lighting is also quite dark which empathizes the fact that it is still early, shows that he is up early maybe because he has plans for the day; a career. The sound and images are linked together on the scene. I noticed certain things in the scene which give us clues about the character himself: The man is nervous about something, wedding photos show commitment, religious candles in his room obviously show he is religious, cuddly toy show he is a domestic family man, tidy and organized and polished police badge which shows he is proud.
Now we had a idea of everything used in opening scenes, we was set homework to watch anything we wanted, favorite TV show or favorite film. Taking note of what the director used in the opening scene. As I'm a fan of CSI (Crime Scene Investigation) I chose to do mine on that. I didn't save this work on my home computer otherwise I would of copied it into here, however It got marked as a A- Accurate in depth analysis.
My Opening Scene
Now because we was ready to start looking into our own production, we split into groups. I went with Danielle Fagg and Ollie Barnes. Together we had to come up with our paper trail which included:
- Story Board
- Call Sheet
- Location Reece
- Risk Assessment
- Shooting Script
- Script
Our simple idea was based on a young teenage girl telling her mother that she is pregnant while the mother is at work. This did incorporate all of the needed aspects in the task.
The scene starts with the daughter walking down the corridor looking nervous, she then knocks on door. She walks in and we filmed behind her and then filmed her when she was walking into the room this included the match on action. She sits down then exchanges dialogue to her mother which includes the shot reverse shot.
We then edited the film and put in some un-copyrighted music which we had found online, this was when the girl was walking down the corridor to create suspense and nervousness.
I personally feel that the preliminary task was successful and enabled me to continue progressing my skills, however there was certain issues and problems I would change if we had the chance to re-do the task.
- As we set it in the College the location didn't have the office and sophisticated feel to it, it just simply looked like the classroom. So instead, thinking about it now we could of used a house environment to create the domestic relationship feeling.
- To add onto our issue with the location, you could see Rick's writing on the whiteboard in one of our shots, you could easily tell from this that it was recorded in a classroom. Thinking about it now, it wouldn't of took much time and effort to clean the board, we just didn't think about it so from now on I'm going to try and make sure that the location is suitable.
- As we had to move furniture around the room, we got the objects in the shot by accident, once again this is going back to the fact that we should of spent more time perfecting the shot.
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